f 


THE  BLACK  CZAR 

PLUTARCO  ELIAS  CALLES 

Bolshevik  Dictator 
of  Mexico 


Translated  from  the  Spanish 
— of  — 

FRANCISCO  GOMEZ  DEL  REY 
AND  HERNAN  DIAZ 

BY  FR.  JOHN  MOCLAIR 


PUBLISHED 

by 

“EL  DIARIO  DE  EL  PASO”  PRESS 
El  Paso,  Texas,  U.  S.  A. 

1928 


1 


INDEX 

PART  I 


Translator’s  Preface 

Introduction 

The  Black  Czar 

His  birth  enshrouded  in  mystery 

“El  Maestro  Mechas” 

Towards  the  abyss 

New  enterprises 

A scandalous  triumvirate 

The  capitalist  commissioner 

Calles  violates  United  States  Territorial  Rights. 

Calles  sheds  tears! 

Sonora — Scene  of  blood  and  grief 

Founder  of  Sovietism  in  Mexico 

The  Staff  Officers  of  Bolshevism 

An  unselfish  leader 

“Would  it  were  so!” 


PART  II 


Calles,  President  of  Mexico # 20 

The  Persecutor 21 

Blood-thirsty 22 

The  Reconstructionist 26 

Calles,  “Philosopher”! 31 

The  illegality  of  the  tyranny 32 

Refinement  of  cruelty 38 

Criminal  support 41 

To  save  Mexico 46 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

Father  Miguel  Agustin  Pro,  S.  J.  (The  Shooting  Scene) 23 

Mr.  Luis  Segura  Vilches  (The  Shooting  Scene) 27,  30 


(Not  Illustrated) — Fr.  Pro,  Mr.  Humberto  Pro,  Mr.  Luis  Segura.:34,  35 


THE  BLACK  CZAR 
TRANSLATOR’S  PREFACE 


“For  truth  has  such  a face  and  such  a mien, 

As  to  be  loved  needs  only  to  be  seen.” 

— Dryden:  The  Hound  and  the  Panther 

“The  Black  Czar”  is  a good  title  for  this  little  sketch 
of  the  life  of  Plutarco  Elias  Calles:  but  a still  more  apt 
title  would  be  “A  Life  of  Dishonor.”  No  figure  in  contem- 
porary history  has  so  decisively  established  his  claims  to 
a niche  in  the  World’s  Hall  of  Infamy.  He  had  not  to  wait 
for  posthumous  fame;  he  is  already  famous — mala  quidem 
fama!  We  might  very  aptly  apply  to  him  a saying  credited 
to  one  of  the  earlier  sultans:  “Where  my  horse  trod,  the 
grass  never  grew.”  Men  living  beyond  the  frontiers  of 
his  country  have  already  formed  their  opinions  of  Calles: 
these  estimates  vary  according  to  the  sources  of  informa- 
tion on  which  they  are  based  and  especially  affected  by  the 
color  of  the  glasses  used  in  reading. 

Our  subject  is  at  once  momentous  and  popular.  The 
“Mexican  Question”  or  “Problem”  has  reached  an  import- 
ant stage;  it  is  of  interest  not  alone  to  Mexicans  and  to 
their  immediate  neighbors,  but  has  assumed  a world  in- 
terest. Now  Calles  is  the  “Mexican  Problem”  personified. 
An  honest  appraisal  of  his  real  character  is  therefore  highly 
desirable.  No  man  can  afford  to  ignore  the  present  state  of 
affairs  in  Mexico.  This  brief  sketch  gives  the  reader  facts, 
demonstrably  true.  Once  the  truth  is  known  there  is  not 
on  earth  an  honest  man  who  would  dare  to  either  sympathize 
with  Calles  or  render  him  aid ; he  can  have  no  well-wishers 
except  among  those  who  cannot  see  any  difference  between 
filial  piety  and  parricide. 

Propaganda  is  a pernicious  thing  and  most  of  the  Mex- 
ican trouble  is  directly  traceable  to  propaganda..  “Propa- 
ganda’s objective  is  always  to  promote  the  interests  of  those 
who  promote  it  rather  than  to  benefit  those  to  whom  it  is 
addressed.”  A characteristic  of  propaganda  is  its  notorious 
indifference  to  truth.  “Truth  is  valuable  only  in  so  far  as 
it  is  effective.  The  whole  truth  would  generally  be  super- 
fluous and  almost  always  misleading.”  * To  this  type  of 
propaganda,  so  potently  and  up  to  the  present  so  success- 
fully employed  by  the  Calles  government,  we  submit  truth 
which  alone  can  set  men  free. 


* Dr.  P.  Chalmers  Mitchell,  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  Vol.  32, 
12th  Edition. 


The  saying:  “Tell  me  your  company  and  I will  tell 
you  what  you  are,”  can  have  lost  none  of  its  verisimilitude. 
The  very  “nicest”  people  will,  sometimes,  pick  up  undesir- 
able acquaintances ; but  good  people  soon  drop  such  acquain- 
tances and  never  allow  the  temporary  relation  to  ripen  into 
friendship.  This  is  exactly  the  case  of  Plutarco  Elias  Calles 
and  his  supporters  in  other  lands.  No  decent  man  can  like 
him.  No  honest  man  can  find  a decent  thing  to  say  about 
him ; the  friends  of  truth  are  the  natural  enemies  of  Calles 
because  he  is  an  enemy  of  truth. 

Now,  we  realize  that  the  “Mexican  Question”  has  been 
sadly  treated  with  blatant  unfairness.  The  American  peo- 
ple are  great  admirers  of  truth,  but  not  so  many  of  them 
are  willing  to  become  truth's  servants.  Wherever  passion, 
that  fosterling  of  ignorance,  has  not  become  an  acute  form 
of  dishonesty  expressing  itself  in  a lie,  we  believe  this  little 
book  will  achieve  much  good  in  the  common  cause  of  truth 
and  will  help  the  people  of  Mexico. 

A phrase  comes  to  mind  that  disturbs  our  confidence: 

“The  times  have  been 

That  when  the  brains  were  out  the  man  would  die 
And  there  an  end:  but  now  they  rise  again.11 

It  is  hard  to  kill  a falsehood  born  of  prejudice.  This 
rather  lengthy  and  very  disproportionate  introduction  is 
necessary  to  pave  the  way  for  the  proper  reception  and  ap- 
praisal of  the  splendid  array  of  facts  which  the  Spanish 
writers  have  brought  together  so  painstakingly.  There  will 
be  many  objectors.  An  obvious  question  is:  “What  have 
people  outside  of  Mexico  got  to  do  with  a religious  ques- 
tion?” To  that  we  reply  that  it  is  not  merely  a religious 
question;  when  you  have  read  the  book  through  you  will 
admit*  that.  Remember  Tolstoy's  words : It  is  wrongly 
said  that  the  Christian  teaching  relates  only  to  personal 
salvation,  and  not  to  public  political  questions.”  John  Mor- 
* ley,  English  statesman  and  essayist. — an  agnostic — wrote : 
“Those  who  would  treat  politics  and  morality  apart,  will  nev- 
er understand  the  one  or  the  other.”  The  reader  will  thank 
us  for  this  quotation,  from  the  pen  of  a Protestant  writer ; 
it  would  serve  as  a perfect  text  for  the  title-page  of  a his- 
tory of  Mexico : “History  consists  of  the  miseries  brought 
upon  the  world  by  pride,  ambition,  avarice,  revenge,  lust, 
sedition,  hypocrisy,  and  ungoverned  zeal.  These  are  the 
cause  of  the  storms.  Religion,  morals,  laws,  prerogatives, 
privileges,  liberties,  rights  of  man,  are  the  protests.”  Ev- 
ery word  of  this  quotation  from  Edmund  Burke  would  serve 
as  a missile  to  smash  the  pretensions  of  Calles  and  his 
abettors. 

Other  readers  will  ask:  “Do  you  want  armed  inter- 
vention by  the  United  States?”  To  which  we  answer:  No! 


5 


May  we  remind  the  reader  that  it  is  the  wrong  kind  of 
American  intervention  that  has  made  the  career  of  Calles 
possible.  There  has  always  been  a “Mexican  Question”  for 
the  United  States,  and  so  far  it  has  never  been  handled  in 
a forthright  vigorous  manner.  Every  enemy  of  Mexico’s 
best  interests,  whether  spawned  on  Mexican  soil  or  import- 
ed from  without  has  had  the  active  support  of  the  United 
States,  either  secretly  or  overtly.  This  statement  is  true 
and  needs  no  confirmation  for  the  man  who  has  read  even 
a meager  outline  of  Mexican  history. 

Yet  one  more  point  should  be  mentioned.  Who  dares 
deny  that  a great  deal  of  the  sympathy  enlisted  in  favor  of 
Calles  derives  from  the  fact  that  the  Catholic  Church  in 
Mexico  has  been  one  of  his  many  victims?  Let  the  Prot- 
estant reader  ponder  on  these  words  of  Lecky,  a Protest- 
ant historian:  “The  persecution  of  religious  opinion  and 
the  suppression  of  any  form  of  religious  worship  must  al- 
ways appear  peculiarly  culpable  in  Protestants  whose  whole 
theory  of  religion  is  based  on  the  right  of  private  judgment.” 
The  same  writer,  in  “Rationalism  in  Europe,”  has  this  to 
say:  “Catholicism  laid  the  very  foundations  of  modem 
civilizations.”  Nor  will  it  be  to  the  benefit  of  the  United 
States  or  the  world  at  large  to  allow  Calles  to  perpetuate 
his  nefarious  achievement. 

This  little  sketch  is  not.  a finished  portrait ; the  palette 
knife  has  been  more  often  employed  than  the  brush.  The 
picture  is  all  the  better  likeness.  The  result  is  not  pleasing 
simply  because  the  subject,  Plutarco  Elias  Calles,  is  not 
a genial  one.  It  is  a picture  absolutely  au  naturel.  So 
many  know  Calles  merely  as  another  of  these  Presidents  of 
Mexico;  but  so  few  recognize  him  as  very  much  at  home 
in  that  long  series  of  inhuman  monsters  who,  in  the  name 
of  law  and  order,  have  violated  all  the  laws  of  God  and 
man,  beginning  with  Benito  Juarez  and  coming  down  to 
Obregon ! Whatever  force  draws  men  into  partnership  with 
Calles,  it  certainly  is  not  love. 

The  handwriting  may  be  seen  already  on  the  walls  of 
the  Castle  of  Chapultepec.  Let  the  reader  approach  his 
study  of  the  real  Calles  with  these  sentiments  so  splendidly 
expressed  by  a great  Spaniard,  Donoso  Cortes:  “Man  can- 
not set  aside  the  punishment  which  follows  sin,  nor  prevent 
the  penalty  of  his  crime,  nor  avoid  death  as  a consequence 
of  his  first  transgression  . . . nor  shun  the  reparation  due 
to  scandals,  nor  the  catastrophe  incurred  by  disobedience. 

“Man  has  been  allowed  to  crush  society,  agitated  by 
the  discord  which  he  has  fomented;  to  destroy  the  strong- 
est means  of  defense;  to  plunder  the  most  opulent  cities; 
to  overthrow  the  most  extensive  and  populous  empires;  to 
bring  utter  ruin  upon  the  highest  forms  of  civilization,  ob- 


6 


scuring  their  splendours  in  the  dense  cloud  of  barbarism; 
but  it  has  not  been  permitted  him  to  suspend  for  one  single 
day,  hour  or  minute,  the  infallible  accomplishment  of  the 
fundamental  laws  which  regulate  the  moral  and  physical 
world,  the  constitutive  laws  of  order,  in  humanity  and  in 
the  universe.  The  world  has  never  seen,  and  will  never 
see,  the  man  who  has  departed  through  sin  from  the  laws 
of  order,  and  who  has  been  able  to  escape  a conformity 
with  these  laws  by  means  of  punishment,  that  messenger 
of  God  which  all  men  must  receive.”  * 

Fr.  John  Moclair, 

Hollywood,  California,  December,  1927. 

INTRODUCTION 

All  men  are  aware  of  the  intolerable  tyranny  exercised 
by  the  actual  dictator  of  Mexico,  Plutarco  Ellas  Calles.  To 
Europeans  this  sinister  name  has  become  a synonym  for 
ignominy  on  the  continent  of  America.  But  although  all 
classes  are  impressed  with  a fact  so  obvious  as  his  noto- 
riously vile  conduct,  his  antecedents  remain  shrouded  in 
mystery. 

In  Los  Angeles,  California,  the  Mexican  writer,  Don 
Brlgido  Caro,  published  a most  interesting  book,  “Plutarco 
Ellas  Calles,  Bolshevik  Dictator  of  Mexico.”  This  work 
was  published  in  January,  1924,  and  deserves  to  be  better 
known.  In  this  book  the  author  paints  a splendid  silhouette 
picture  of  Calles;  here  we  find  a true-to-life  portrait  of 
the  miscreant  who  has  strangled  the  liberties  of  the  Mexi- 
can people  and  in  years  of  agitation  and  revolution  has 
imbrued  with  blood  the  soil  of  the  neighboring  Republic. 

THE  BLACK  CZAR 

Throughout  the  world  the  very  mention  of  the  name, 
Plutarco  Ellas  Calles,  evokes  a feeling  of  horror.  • He  has 
secured  for  himself  the  bloody  aureole  of  a Nero,  a Caligu- 
la or  a Tiberius  by  his  attacks  on  civilization,  and  his  fero- 
cious cruelty  towards  the  Catholic  people  of  Mexico.  For 
generations  yet  to  be  his  name  will  synonomize  anathema 
and  malediction.  This  is  the  man  who  had  the  satanic  au- 
dacity to  declare,  on  seeing  the  churches  of  God  deserted, 
“I  have  fought  Christ  three  times,  and  three  time  I emerged 
victor.”  In  his  blind  fury  he  fails  to  observe,  in  what  he 
calls  “victories,”  the  sure  portent  of  his  inevitable  and 
complete  downfall.  The  victims  of  this  despot's  fury  have 


* Donoso  Cortes:  “Catholicism,  Authority  and  Order.” 


7 


repeatedly  shouted  with  their  dying  breath : “Christ  lives,. 
Christ  reigns,  Christ  commands,  Christ  dies  no  more.”  This 
is  the  cry — not  the  insensate  boast  of  Calles — that  fore- 
tells victory. 

Whence  came  a man  of  such  monstrous  instincts? 
Where  and  by  whose  hand  was  rocked  the  cradle  of  the  in- 
fant Calles  whom  we  recognize  today  as  the  assassin  of  ev- 
ery principle  of  liberty?  It  is  imperative  that  all,  Catho- 
lics and  non-Catholics  alike,  who  cherish  a true  regard  for 
liberty,  should  know  the  man  who  has  hoisted  the  black  and 
red  flag  above  the  grave  of  liberty.  A study  of  this  char- 
actdl*  is  worth  while  since  he  has  strangled  liberty  before 
the  very  doors  of  the  United  States. 

HIS  BIRTH  ENSHROUDED  IN  MYSTERY 

In  Mexico  nobody  knows  the  birth-place  of  the  man 
who  calls  himself  the  President  of  Mexico.  When  the  Red 
workers  proclaimed  him  a candidate  for  the  presidency  of 
the  Republic,  a search  was  made  for  documentary  data  to 
establish  his  Mexican  origin.  The  search  was  fruitless. 
Nowhere  in  any  city,  town  or  village  in  the  State  of  Sonora 
could  be  found  either  a civil  or  ecclesiastical  record  of  his 
birth!  The  date  of  his  ill-starred  entry  into  this  world  is 
unknown.  Calles  himself  has  always  evaded  this  pertinent 
question  of  his  origin  with  characteristic  shameless  auda- 
city. 

The  surname  “Elias”  is  certainly  not  Mexican;  it  is 
Syro-Lybian,  Arabic  or  Turkish.  For  this  reason  the  Mex- 
ican people  call  him  “The  Turk” ! Remember  that  the  Mex- 
ican Constitution — so  sacred  to  Calles — requires  that  the 
President  of  the  Republic  be  a Mexican  by  birth  and  the 
child  of  parents  born  in  Mexico.  Has  Calles  fulfilled  these 
conditions?  Nobody  has  been  able  to  discover  anything  on 
the  matter.  Confronted  with  the  shadows  that  surround 
the  cradle  of  their  Black  Czar,  we  can  see  whence  comes 
the  universal  verdict  of  the  people  he  has  enslaved : “Mex- 
ican blood  certainly  does  not  flow  through  the  veins  of 
Plutarco  Elias  Calles.” 

EL  MAESTRO  MECHAS  * 

Calles  began  his  public  career  as  a school  master.  The 
scene  of  his  first  pedagogic  and  inquisitorial  efforts  was 
a small  secular  school  in  Guaymas,  State  of  Sonora.  A 
few  months  after  his  appointment  he  had  become  treasurer 
of  the  Teachers'  Union.  It  was  soon  noticed  that  the  con- 


* “Maestro  Mechas,”  a nickname.  Frowsy,  an  unkempt  person. 


8 


tinued  drunken  revels  of  Calles  kept  pace  with  the  sudden 
decline  in  the  treasury  funds ! In  a little  while  the  teachers' 
syndicate  was  bankrupt! 

Calles  frequently  absented  himself  from  school  due  to 
his  shameful  drinking  bouts,  and  he  went  to  school  merely 
to  chastise  the  unfortunate  children  with  ferocious  savag- 
ery. At  the  present  moment  the  whole  Mexican  nation  pre- 
sents an  exact  picture  of  the  spectacle  witnessed  in  that 
little  school  in  Guaymas,  when  the  drunken  schoolmaster  de- 
vised a thousand  forms  of  inhuman  cruelty  in  maltreating 
his  unfortunate  pupils. 

The  methods  of  the  quondam  schoolmaster  have  under- 
gone no  change.  Time  and  again  he  passed  from  the  saloon 
to  the  school.  That  uncertain  step,  the  stupid  gaze,  the 
slouching  gait,  the  hat  tilted  to  one  side,  a tufted  fringe 
blown  across  his  forehead,  were  all  unmistakable  signs  that 
the  teacher’s  libations  had  been  unusually  copious  that 
morning!  When  the  irascible  teacher  hove  in  sight  the 
mirthful,  noisy  chatter  of  the  children  was  suddenly  stilled. 
A ragged  urchin  would  rush  in  and  pantingly  exclaim: 
“Here  comes  Maestro  Mechas!”  This  title,  “Maestro  Me- 
chas”, was  the  popular  name  of  Calles  during  his  stay  in 
Guaymas.  At  last,  alarmed  by  the  habitqal  drunkenness  of 
the  teacher  the  parents  demanded  relief  from  the  Council  of 
Public  Instruction,  and  relief  was  given  them  when  the 
scandalous  teacher  was  dismissed. 

TOWARD  THE  ABYSS 

Without  employment,  the  justly  dismissed  teacher  ex- 
perienced every  form  of  wretchedness.  He  sought  conso- 
lation in  his  sad  predicament,  in  an  almost  continuous  orgy. 
His  neighbors  regarded  him  with  contempt,  mixed  with  a 
small  percentage  of  pity.  His  uncle,  Alexander  Elias,  was 
determined  to  get  Calles  away  from  his  scandalous  mode  of 
living  and  succeeded  in  having  him  appointed  Municipal 
Treasurer  in  Guaymas ! 

— In  those  days  the  dictatorship  of  Porfirio  Diaz  seemed 

a national  glory  in  the  eyes  of  Plutarco  Elias  Calles.  Ac- 
cordingly, he  conducted  a campaign  of  propaganda  in  the 
Yaqui  region  on  behalf  of  a group  of  political  candidates, 
nominees  of  Diaz.  Calles  brought  with  him  on  this  tour,  as 
his  faithful  companions,  three  or  four  barrels  of  aguardiente 

The  same  fortune  that  befell  him  while  he  was  treasur- 
er of  the  teachers’  union,  attended  his  propagandist  activi- 
ties. “He  began  by  scattering  money  with  a free  hand  in 
the  saloons  and  brothels.  As  might  be  reasonably  expected, 
the  defalcation  was  discovered  in  the  accounts  of  the  muni- 
cipal treasury  by  the  State  Inspector,  D.  Francisco  Rodri- 


9 


guez.  The  errant  propagandist  was  brought  to  justice  at 
the  instance  of  Don  Francisco  Furcade,  president  of  the  City 
Council.  The  necessary  form  for  sending  him  to  prison  was 
executed,  but  his  uncle,  Don  Alejandro  Elias,  made  good  the 
deficit  in  the  treasury,  a matter  of  several  thousand  dollars.,, 
(“Plutarco  Elias  Calles,”  by  B.  Caro,  page  16.) 

Again  our  hero  is  jobless,  but  not  for  long.  His  half- 
brothers,  Arturo  Malvido  Elias,  the  future  Consul  at  New 
York,  appointed  Calles  bar-tender  in  the  Hotel  Mexico, 
fronting  on  the  square  “Trece  de  Julio.”  In  a little  while 
Calles  blossomed  forth  as  the  sole  proprietor.  He  now  re- 
sumed his  bacchanalian  orgies,  and  faced  with  the  certainty 
of  financial  failure,  he  set  fire  to  the  establishment.  In  this 
easy  way  he  secured  $12,000  from  the  Insurance  Company ; 
he  had  often  promised  himself  this  little  favor  while  talking 
to  his  boon  companions ! 

NEW  ENTERPRISES 

Possessed  of  this  easy  money  Calles  sought  a change  of 
scene,  so  he  transferred  his  activities  to  the  village  of  Fron- 
teras,  District  of  Arizpe,  State  of  Sonora.  Pistol  in  hand,  he 
now  compelled  his  uncle  to  give  him  a farm.  As  he  never 
worked,  he  quite  simply  leased  the  farm  to  Manuel  Ellas 
Perez  and  resumed  his  role  of  libertine.  Very  soon  he  was 
financially  embarrased  once  more,  and  through  the  power- 
ful influence  of  his  relatives  he  was  appointed  superinten- 
dent of  the  Excelsior  Flour  Mills,  owned  by  the  firm  of 
Smithers  and  Nordelhols,  of  New  York. 

This  mill  was  the  only  one  of  its  kind  in  the  region  and 
accordingly  very  favorably  situated.  However,  the  dissolute 
habits  and  lack  of  business  capacity  of  the  new  superinten- 
dent brought  on  the  inevitable  bankruptcy  and  a new  man- 
ager supplanted  Calles.  He  next  begged  employment  in  a 
gambling  saloon — an  ideal  field  for  his  peculiar  talent — but 
no,  his  chilling  viciousness  was  too  much,  and  again  he  is 
out  of  employment ! 

A SCANDALOUS  TRIUMVIRATE 

Roberto  V.  Pesqueira  and  Francisco  Diaz  Velasco  were 
two  comrades  worthy  to  associate  with  Calles.  These  unholy 
three  became  inseparable  pals  and  embarked  on  a spell  of 
unbridled  licentiousness  and  intemperance.  A favorite  pas- 
time of  Calles  and  Co.  was  to  shoot  off  their  revolvers  to 
enliven  the  neighborhood  and  provide  an  outlet  for  their 
base  instincts.  “More  than  one  girl — minors — was  launched 
on  a career  of  prostitution  and  crime  by  these  men.”  (“Plu- 
tarco Elias  Calles,  Dictator,”  page  20.)  Every  door  in  the 


10 


village  was  closed  at  nightfall  by  the  panic-stricken  inhabit- 
ants when  these  scoundrels  put  on  their  discharge  of  fire- 
arms act.  “Here  comes  Santanon,”  was  heard  on  all  sides. 
At  this  time  Santanon  was  a notoriously  cruel  bandit  chief 
who  terrorized  the  district  of  Huasteca,  in  the  state  of 
Veracruz. 


THE  CAPITALIST  COMMISSIONER 

When  Calles  heard  in  Fronteras  of  the  triumph  of 
Francisco  Madero,  he  immediately  declared  himself  an  ar- 
dent partisan  of  the  victor.  He  employed  in  the  Madero  in- 
terests the  same  propaganda  technique  which  he  used  re- 
cently in  favor  of  the  political  nominees  of  Porfirio  Diaz; 
it  was  so  simple ! An  abundance  of  alcohol  and  rowdy  po- 
litical meetings  held  in  the  saloons ! 

The  new  Governor  of  Sonora  nominated  him  Commis- 
sioner of  Agua  Prieta.  In  a surprisingly  short  time  his  new 
office  enabled  Calles  to  become  the  most  powerful  capitalist 
in  that  region.  He  possessed  himself  of  a commercial  es- 
tablishment entailing  a monopoly  over  the  entire  district. 
He  widened  the  sphere  of  his  usefulness  by  adding  a saloon 
and  a gambling  house  to  his  growing  business — the  latter 
being  illegal ! The  neighboring  town  of  Douglas  furnished 
him  fine  patronage. 

By  what  means  did  the  new  Commissioner  attain  such 
affluence  in  such  brief  time?  This  would  be  one  more  mys- 
tery in  the  life  of  Calles  but  for  the  fact  that  the  wealthy 
merchant,  Manuel  J.  Fuentes,  was  sent  speedily  to  his  re- 
ward by  an  unknown  assassin,  and  a few  days  later  all  his 
merchandise  was  quietly  transferred  to  the  Calles  establish- 
ment ! It  is  perhaps  not  unworthy  of  notice  that  all  the  in- 
ebriates who  emerged  from  the  saloons  of  Agua  Prieta  were 
fined  ten  dollars,  whereas  the  homeward  bound  drunks 
emerging  from  the  Calles,  saloon  went  scot  free ! 

Calles  secured  another  good  source  of  income  from  a 
business  arrangement  he  made  with  one  Tomas  Rosas,  a 
professional  robber  and  bandit,  who  specialized  in  cattle- 
stealing  in  the  United  States.  The  stolen  stock  was  sold  to 
a slaughter-house  on  the  Arizona  border,  and  one-half  of 
the  proceeds  went  to  the  government  comissioner,  Plutarco 
Elias  Calles.  When  the  time  appeared  opportune,  Calles 
quietly  but  very  firmly  expelled  Rosas  beyond  the  pale  of 
his  jurisdiction,  and  made  this  lucrative  business  a one-man 
affair. 

CALLES  VIOLATES  U.  S.  A.  TERRITORIAL  RIGHTS 

The  inhabitants  of  Agua  Prieta  were  soon  to  experience 
a display  of  that  cruelty  of  which  the  wretched  urchins  of 


11 


his  school  at  Guaymas  had  been  the  victims.  A dagger 
thrust  sufficed  for  the  ferocious  commissioner  to  dispose 
of  his  enemies,  real  and  imaginary.  A poor  man  of  the 
town  had  the  temerity  to  shout  in  the  streets:  “Death  to 
Madero!”  Calles  had  him  hanged  by  a strand  of  barbed 
copper  wire  from  a railroad  bridge  beside  the  town. 

Years  later,  in  1918,  Calles  had  become  Governor  of  the 
State  of  Sonora,  and  terror  and  mourning  reigned  through- 
out the  land.  Here  in  this  same  town  of  Agua  Prieta,  where 
he  was  Commissioner  before,  he  committed  one  of  his  most 
dastardly  crimes;  he  who  at  the  present  moment  has  con- 
verted the  whole  of  Mexico  into  a Moorish  dungeon  now 
plans  a crime  to  be  committed  on  American  soil.  Calles  re- 
ceived information  that  a group  of  Mexican  refugees  were 
plotting  against  the  government  of  his  Lord  and  Master, 
Carranza,  in  the  American  town  of  Douglas.  He  planned 
to  capture  them.  His  armed  myrmidons  crossed  the  border 
into  the  United  States;  they  secured  the  cooperation  of  the 
police  officers  of  Douglas,  and  seized  the  unfortunate  ref- 
ugees; all  except  one,  Dr.  Manuel  Huerta,  who  was  in  bed, 
sick.  Mrs.  Huerta  summoned  attorney  Richardson  to  under- 
take her  husband’s  defense,  but  the  attorney  failed  to  enter 
the  house  of  Dr.  Huerta,  as  it  has  guarded  by  six  henchmen 
of  the  Calles  band. 

On  this  day,  December  14,  1918,  at  ten  o’clock  P.  M., 
Calles’  agents,  Eduardo  Lopez,  Sacramento  Montano,  Luis 
Peralta,  and  Rodolfo  Marquez,  pistol  in  hand,  attacked  the 
home  of  Dr.  Huerta.  Two  of  the  gang  bound  and  gagged 
Mrs.  Huerta,  whilst  the  others  seized  Dr.  Huerta,  pushed 
him  into  an  automobile  and  quickly  raced  across  the  frontier 
into  Mexican  territory.  On  the  following  night,  December 
15th,  1918,  Dr.  Huerta,  Tranquilino  Silva,  Leyva,  and  a 
fourth  person,  were  hanged  in  the  principal  square  of  Agua 
Prieta,  by  order  of  General  Calles.  Next  morning,  at  sunrise, 
Calles  appeared  at  the  place  of  execution,  intoxicated,  but 
yet  apparently  able  to  thoroughly  enjoy  the  sight  of  the 
corpses  swaying  in  the  morning  breeze,  suspended  from  a 
lamp  post.  Calles  marked  this  unheard  of  violation  of 
American  territorial  rights,  and  celebrated  his  victory 
by  embarking  on  a six-hour  drinking  spree ; bestially 
drunk,  he  was  taken  to  his  home  in  the  same  automobile  em- 
ployed in  the  passage  of  Dr.  Huerta  to  his  doom ! On  several 
occasions  Calles  sent  his  hired  assassins  across  the  interna- 
tional boundary,  and  imbrued  with  blood  of  his  victims 
United  States  soil.  Attorney  J.  A.  Vails  took  part  in 
the  inquiry  into  the  death  of  General  Lucio  Blanco,  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Laredo,  Texas,  and  he  has  left  on  rec- 
ord the  fact  that  the  assassins  were  agents  of  the  Obregon 
government,  and  belonged  to  the  command  of  General  Plu- 
tarco  Elias  Calles. 


12 


CALLES  SHED  TEARS ! 


The  rebel  chief,  Francisco  Escandon,  traversed  the 
frontier  with  twenty  retainers,  early  in  April,  1912.  Calles 
was  no  sooner  advised  of  the  fact,  than  he  set  out  from  A- 
gua  Prieta,  with  forty  soldiers  of  the  garrison,  to  give  battle 
to  the  rebel  forces.  He  entered  the  little  town  of  Cuchuvera- 
chi,  towards  sundown,  and  neglecting  to  take  proper  precau- 
tions against  surprise,  he  established  himself  comfortably 
with  his  staff,  in  the  best  house  in  the  town;  he  had  pre- 
viously ejected  the  owner  and  his  family.  Escandon  threw  a 
bomb  at  the  door  of  Calles’  billet,  to  announce  his  visit ; Ca- 
lles troops  were  completely  routed,  and  the  heroic  general 
had  no  time  to  dress.  He  made  for  the  suburbs  hastily,  but 
not  quite  fast  enough.  Recognized,  he  was  captured  and 
brought  before  Escandon.  The  latter  knew  well  the  record 
of  General  Calles,  so  he  gave  orders  to  have  Calles  shot  at 
once  as  a dangerous  criminal.  The  soldiers  hurried  the  prep- 
arations for  the  execution,  and  Calles  immediately  threw 
himself  at  the  feet  of  Escandon.  Calles  was  never  disturbed 
by  the  death  rattle  of  his  victims,  but  he  was  now  weeping 
bitterly,  and  begged  for  his  life,  pledging  his  support  and 
offering  his  services  to  his  captor  in  exchange.  His  bandit 
captor  ignored  the  appeal,  and  merely  reiterated  his  com- 
mand to  hasten  the  execution.  Dr.  Manuel  Huerta  appeared 
on  the  scene  at  this  critical  moment  and  secured  a pardon 
and  unconditional  release  for  Calles. 

Six  years  later  the  corpse  of  this  same  Dr.  Huerta,  sus- 
pended from  a lamp  post  in  the  square  of  Agua  Prieta,  af- 
forded a moment’s  pleasure,  gruesome  and  fiendish  though 
the  spectacle  was,  to  the  drunken  general  Calles ; this  is  the 
incident  referred  to  in  an  earlier  paragraph. 

SONORA:  A SCENE  OF  BLOOD  AND  GRIEF. 


Obregon  was  appointed  commander-in-chief  of  the 
army  of  the  Northeast,  when  the  State  of  Sonora  supported 
the  Carranza  Revolution.  To  inaugurate  a campaign  of  ex- 
termination against  the  southern  states  of  the  Republic, 
Obregon  called  Gen.  Calles  and  appointed  him  Governor  of 
Sonora.  From  now  on  the  most  revolting  crimes  against  life 
and  property  marked  the  activities  of  the  Governor.  At  his 
behest  a committee  was  appointed  in  the  principal  towns 
of  each  district,  empowered  to  seize  all  the  material  posses- 
sions of  their  enemies.  Enemies,  be  it  known,  were  all  men 
of  honor  and  patriotic  feeling,  who  were  shocked  and  exas- 
perated by  the  criminal  behavior  of  the  new  Governor,  who 


13 


brooked  no  obstacle  to  his  greedy  appetite.  The  inhabitants 
of  Hermosillo,  the  State  capital,  were  nightly  alarmed  by 
the  discharge  of  fire-arms,  announcing  the  wholesale  murder 
of  the  best  of  their  fellow  citizens. 

All  Catholic  Churches,  and  all  Catholic  Schools  in  the 
state  were  closed;  priests  were  expelled,  and  thousands  of 
law-abiding  citizens  were  deported.  On  December  31,  1919, 
Don  Jose  Anchondo,  reported  an  occurrence,  in  a letter  to 
Pres.  Carranza,  from  which  we  selected  these  paragraphs : 
“Because  of  the  invasion  of  Mexican  territory  by  the  so- 
called  punitive  expedition,  under  command  of  General  Per- 
shing, all  the  inhabitants  of  this  region  (the  northern  part 
of  Chihuahua)  abandoned  their  homes,  rather  than  risk 
falling  victims  to  the  fiendish  treatment  of  Francisco  Villa. 
They  took  with  them  their  few  possessions  and  even  the  live 
stock  . . . Unfortunately  my  hapless  brother,  Felix  Anchondo 
with  Luis  Gonzalez,  Jose  Hernandez,  Magdaleno  Diaz,  F. 
Cordero,  (11  years  old),  Higinio  Moncada,  Hilario  Chavez, 
Rafael  Ponce,  and  Miguel  Molina  led  the  advance.  . . They 
were  captured  by  the  soldiers  of  General  Plutarco  Elias  Ca- 
lles,  and  taken  to  Agua  Prieta.  Robbed  of  what  money  they 
carried,  and  despoiled  of  their  herd  of  250  animals,  they 
were  held  prisoners  by  General  Calles,  who  also  took  posses- 
sion of  a bank  account  of  my  brother. ...  I took  steps  im- 
mediately to  secure  their  release,  and  I wrote  to  you,  Mr. 
President,  to  Adolfo  de  la  Huerta,  to  the  Mexican  Consul 
at  Douglas  . . . but  all  was  in  vain ! My  brother  and  his  com- 
panions were  murdered,  en  masse ; they  were  never  question- 
ed, nor  even  told  the  reason  of  their  arrest.  After  the  crime 
the  corpses  of  these  unfortunate  victims,  so  cruelly  and  so 
wantonly  murdered,  were  tossed  together  into  a common 
pit. . . . Wherefore,  I appeal  to  you,  Mr.  President,  that  you 
place  on  the  shoulders  of  General  Plutarco  Elias  Calles,  ac- 
tual minister  of  Industry,  Commerce  and  Labor,  the  re- 
sponsibility that  is  his,  as  being  the  author  of  these  assassi- 
nations committed  in  Agua  Prieta  the  10th  of  March,  1917” 

FOUNDER  OF  SOVIETISM  IN  MEXICO 


Before  assuming  the  duties  of  his  office  as  Bolshevik 
Governor  of  the  State  of  Yucatan,  Felipe  Carrillo  Puerto 
wrote  to  General  Calles,  March  10,  1926,  “We  are  here  in 
Saltillo,  consulting  with  Citizen  Obregon  as  to  the  best 
methods  for  an  intensive  campaign  of  propaganda  in  the 
Southeast,  beginning  at  Tabasco,  Chiapas  and  Yucatan;  in 
the  State  of  Yucatan,  the  Commissioners  are  requested  to 
support  with  great  energy  the  candidacy  of  our  standard- 
bearer,  Citizen  Obregon”.  To  this,  Calles  replied  from 
Hermosillo,  Sonora,  March  12,  1920:  “During  my  long 


career  as  a fighter,  I have  always  had  great  faith  in  the 
disinherited  classes,  and  to-day  I derive  comfort  from  the 
resolute  manner  in  which  the  patriotic  working  classes  have 
espoused  the  good  cause. ...  I have  confidence  that  very  soon 
happy  days  will  dawn  for  the  wretched  State  of  Yucatan, 
and  that  soon  her  Socialist  party  will  arise  frome  the  ashes 
stronger  and  more  hopeful  for  the  days  to  come. . . I judge 
it  most  important  to  intensify  the  campaign  of  propaganda 
in  the  South  East,  and  thus  bring  words  of  encouragement 
to  our  co-religionist  of  that  region”.  To  what  propaganda 
does  Calles  allude?  Later  events  tell  us  very  clearly.  The 
deputy  for  Yucatan,  A.  Manzanares,  viewing  the  devastated 
condition  of  this  State,  was  prompted  to  issue  a manifesto 
to  the  Mexican  nation.  “The  armed  natives  were  guilty  of 
every  conceivable  excess;  their  sinister  and  destructive 
shibboleth  was:  ‘Viva  la  Republica  Soviet!'  Men,  women 
and  children,  armed  with  knives,  went  on  a rampage,  and 
with  savage  cries,  destroyed  hundreds  of  homes.  ...  In  five 
days,  in  a spirit  of  homicidal  fury  this  band  of  Socialists 
has  murdered  hundreds  of  citizens,  burned  over  four  hun- 
dred private  homes,  and  destroyed  many  commercial  houses, 
the  property  of  foreigners.  . . The  prologue  to  this  bloody 
drama  was  under  the  special  direction  of  General  Calles, 
when  he  had  arms  distributed  among  a band  of  harden- 
ed criminals.  I accuse,  before  the  entire  nation,  as  the  prin- 
cipal culprits  in  this  work  of  ruin  and  barbarous  retroces- 
sion of  Yucatan  State,  Salvador  Alvarado,  whose  satellites, 
Felipe  Carrillo  Puerto,  Antonio  Ancona,  Castillo  Torre, 
Florentino  Avila,  etc.  . . carry  on  their  nefarious  work  un- 
der the  all-powerful  patronage  of  the  present  minister  of 
war,  General  Plutarco  Elias  Calles.” 

THE  STAFF  OFFICERS  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

At  the  service  of  General  Calles  is  a crowd  of  foreign 
adventurers.  There  are  hundreds  of  Russian  Bolsheviks, 
who  entered  the  country  as  employes  of  the  Russian  Minis- 
ter to  Mexico;  several  undesirable  aliens  like  that  blas- 
phemous Spanish  lecturer,  Dona  Belen  de  Sarraga,  and  also 
a particularly  well  known  group  of  a highly  dangerous 
characters. 

On  August  8,  1923,  appeared  a detailed  account  of  these 
adventurers  in  the  Chicago  Daily  Tribune;  to  this  eminent 
newspaper  we  are  indebted  for  the  facts  and  we  make  the 
following  excerpts: 

“A  small  band  of  foreign  adventurers,  who  evaded  the 
duty  of  military  service  in  the  United  States  in  1917  have 
just  succeeded  in  setting  up  an  autocracy  in  Mexico,  more 
powerful  than  that  of  Maximilian,  and  as  ambitious  as  that 


15 


of  Lenine.  Taking  advantage  of  a cessation  of  social  agita- 
tion, while  bloody  strife  distracted  the  attention  of  the  rev- 
olutionaries, they  now  threaten  to  impose  their  will  on  the 
victors,  and  dictate  both  the  home  and  foreign  policy  of  this, 
the  oldest  American  nation.  They  have  attained  partial  suc- 
cess in  this  ambitious  enterprise. 

“Thus  encouraged  they  have  been  plotting  the  over- 
throw of  the  United  States  Government  itself,  using  a 
formidable  weapon,  in  the  shape  of  propaganda,  which  is 
financed  by  certain  elements  in  the  Mexican  Government. 

“Few  similar  incidents  are  recorded  in  history ; a small 
group  of  distinctly  foreign  origin,  undertakes  the  stupen- 
dous task  of  converting  a whole  continent  to  Bolshevism, 
and  has  been  close  to  complete  success,  in  the  case  of  one 
large  nation.  They  have  developed  communistic  propagan- 
da to  a pitch  undreamed  of  in  the  Western  hemisphere. 

“Speaking  in  their  own  name,  and  in  the  name  of  the 
Mexican  people,  they  proclaimed  all  men  brothers,  and  then 
set  the  Indian  race  against  the  Latin,  and  the  Latin  races 
against  the  Anglo-Saxon ! They  have  set  class  against  class. 
They  have  skillfully  injected  the  virus  of  their  doctrines 
into  the  current  of  public  opinion,  always  careful  to  camou- 
flage their  activities,  and  hiding  their  failures  and  reverses. 
They  rely  on  the  passions  of  the  untutored  peones,  to  make 
shipwreck  on  an  ocean  of  half  truths  and  cynicism  the 
faith  and  the  very  mentality  of  the  rising  generation. 

“The  leader  of  this  dangerous  project  is  Robert  Haber- 
man,  a fugitive  from  justice  in  San  Francisco,  who  is  actual- 
ly the  Director  of  Foreign  Languages  Department  in  the 
Ministry  of  Public  Instruction  in  Mexico  City.  Haberman 
entered  a field  already  well  prepared  for  his  work  by  others 
of  his  ilk.  Haberman’s  unofficial  title  is,  however,  Chief  of 
the  Bureau  of  Propaganda  for  the  Mexican  Government. 
This  title  merely  serves  to  disguise  his  real  activities ; he  is 
really  the  chief  representative,  in  the  Western  hemisphere, 
of  the  Moscow  revolutionaries. 

“An  American  correspondent,  connected  with  one  of 
the  principal  newspapers  of  the  United  States,  is  in  the  ser- 
vice of  Haberman.  He  drives  around  Mexico  in  an  auto- 
mobile, presented  him  by  the  Mexican  Government,  and  he 
purchases  gasoline  for  his  machine  with  Mexican  Govern- 
ment notes!  One  female  newspaper  correspondent  received 
a cheque  of  $25,000  from  the  Mexican  Government. 

“Also  in  the  Haberman  group  of  thirty  individuals  of 
both  sexes,  is  Fred  Leighton,  correspondent  of  the  Federated 
Press  in  Mexico  City.  He  is  also  inspector  of  Personnel,  un- 
der Haberman,  in  the  Department  of  Foreign  Languages 
and  derives  his  chief  income  from  this  source.  This  man, 
Leighton,  refused  to  serve  the  United  States,  his  native 
country,  in  the  World  War,  and  was  sent  to  Leavenworth 


16 


to  serve  a twenty-year  sentence.  \le  was  released  in  1921. 
He  attends  all  the  workers’  meetings,  and  is  in  close  touch 
with  all  radical  activities  in  Mexico.  He  is  an  avowed  enemy 
of  the  United  States,  and  never  misses  an  opportunity  to 
prejudice  the  interests  of  the  American  Government.  He  is 
twenty-six  years  old,  and  a bachelor. 

“The  most  sinister  figure  among  the  women  members 
of  Haberman  is  Harriet  Mann;  she  is  an  employee  of  the 
Secretariate  of  Education,  at  the  orders  of  Haberman,  and 
a close  friend  of  the  radicals.  She  is  twenty-five  years  old. 
and  came  to  Mexico  from  New  York  City. 

“Another  member  of  the  Haberman  group  is  Dr.  A. 
Weiberg,  a Jew,  of  Polish  extraction,  and  dentist  by  profes- 
sion. He  came  to  Mexico  last  year  with  Frank  Tamenbaum, 
who  was  a prisoner  at  Sing  Sing  on  account  of  his  activities 
against  the  United  States  in  the  World  War.  Weiberg  resided 
some  time  in  New  Orleans.  Mrs.  Weiberg,  the  latter’s 
wife,  has  also  a place  in  the  Haberman  group ; she  is  a 
professor  attached  to  the  Secretariate  of  Education,  and  a 
prominent  leader  in  the  Teachers  Union.  Mrs.  Chase,  of 
Denver,  Colorado,  a teacher,  specializes  in  birth-control,  and 
several  other  branches  of  radical  propaganda. 

“All  these,  and  many  other  foreigners,  are  under  the 
special  protection  and  patronage  of  Calles.” 

AN  UNSELFISH  LEADER! 

Calles  never  worked.  He  knows  nothing  about  industry, 
and  could  never  understand  the  honesty  and  grit  of  a decent, 
efficient  merchant.  His  life  has  been  wholly  devoted  to  in- 
trigue, to  revolution,  and  to  the  assiduous  cultivation  of 
every  form  of  vice ; yet  he  is,  today,  one  of  the  richest  men 
in  Mexico! 

He  declared  himself  an  opponent  of  dictatorship,  when 
Madero’s  short-lived  triumph  ended.  Yet,  in  a short  time, 
he  had  become  the  most  detestable  and  soundly  hated  dicta- 
tor, among  the  many  who  laid  waste  the  fair  state  of  Sonora. 
At  the  present  moment  he  is  the  absolute  master  of  the  lives 
and  the  property  of  every  inhabitant  of  Mexico.  At  the  out- 
set of  his  career  as  an  agitator,  Calles  had  stamped  on  all 
his  proclamations  and  campaign  literature,  the  now  famous 
slogan:  “Sufragio  efectivo-no  reeleccion”. — (An  honest  suf- 
frage— no  re-election).  Nevertheless,  in  November,  1926 
he  cajoled  the  House  of  Deputies  into  passing  a 
measure  effacing  this  slogan,  so  long  employed  as  a basic 
principle  in  many  bloody  revolutions.  In  1914  he  appeared 
in  person  in  Cananea,  Sonora  State,  and  quenched  in  a tor- 
rent of  blood  a strike  of  the  workers,  and  filled  the  prisons 
with  the  wives  and  children  of  the  murdered  men.  In 


17 


August,  1916,  he  executed  attorney  Lazaro  Gutierrez  de 
Lara,  socialist  leader,  and  yet,  in  1922,,  bolshevik  mobs,  led 
by  the  Argentinian,  Jenaro  Launto,  the  Guatemalan,  Heron 
Proal,  and  other  foreigners  protected  by  General  Calles,  at- 
tacked the  street  cars,  killed  or  maltreated  the  employees  of 
the  company,  exploded  bombs,  in  the  Archiepiscopal  resi- 
dences in  Mexico  and  Guadalajara,  and  at  the  national 
shrine  of  Guadalupe.  Black  and  red  flags  were  at  this  time 
hoisted  on  all  public  buildings  in  Mexico,  Vera  Cruz,  Guada- 
lajara and  other  cities. 

What  are  the  real  social  ideas  of  Calles,  formerly  an 
enemy  of  the  working  classes,  and  now  an  avowed  bolshevik, 
an  extreme  radical  ? It  is  hopeless  to  attempt  an  answer.  The 
career  of  Calles  has  been  too  tortuous,  marked  by  unspeak- 
able crimes  and  flagrant  inconsistencies.  He  who  once  mur- 
dered innocent  working  men  in  the  name  of  law  and  order, 
now  puts  into  practice  a program  of  the  most  extreme  ideals 
of  Russian  Bolshevism.  And  all  the  while  Calles  becomes 
wealthier,  a moneyed  potentate,  a perfect  specimen  of  the 
hated  Bourgeoisie,  rolling  in  riches,  while  he  wastes  the 
nation’s  resources,  and  ignores  the  people  who  perish  for 
want  of  food. 

This  is  not  all.  In  addition  to  his  business  interests,  ac- 
quired in  Agua  Prieta  what  time  he  was  commissioner  there, 
Calles  founded  a tannery  which  has  netted  him  over  half  a 
million  dollars. 

He  had  himself  appointed  a director  of  the  Banking 
and  Loan  Association  of  Sonora; 

He  has  several  fine  farms  in  the  Agua  Prieta  District; 

He  owns  vast  mining  interests  in  Pilares  de  Nacozari, 
and  he  is  the  chief  operator  of  the  mine,  “El  Tramador”. 

He  took  possession  of  national  lands  in  Vera  Cruz  when 
he  learned  that  this  land  contained  rich  oil  deposits ! 

He  owns  the  vast  ranch  “Soledad  de  la  Mota”,  in  the 
State  of  Nuevo  Leon. 

Early  in  1928  he  formed  an  oil  company,  in  partnership 
with  General  Calderon,  Engineer  N.  M.  Rodriguez  Sampe- 
rio,  Attorney  Juan  I.  de  Alba,  Roberto  V.  Pesqueira,  Floren- 
do  Torreblanca,  General  Serrano,  Attorney  Jose  Estrada 
Otamendi  and  Rafael  Mancera,  called  “The  National  Oil 
Company  of  Tabasco  and  Chiapas.”  All  these  were  the  well 
known  sources  of  Calles’  wealth  before  he  became  president 
of  Mexico.  Since  he  became  president,  Calles  has  assumed 
absolute  and  unlimited  powers  as  custodian  (?)  of  the  Na- 
tional Treasury.  He  can  dispose  of  any  sum  from  the  na- 
tional exchequer,  and  is  accountable  to  no  individual,  nor 
anybody,  official  or  otherwise,  for  his  handling  of  the  na- 
tional wealth.  This  is  doubly  clear  from  the  recently  pub- 
lished articles  in  the  United  States  press. 


18 


Profitable,  forsooth,  is  the  career  of  a labour  leader! 
If  you  need  further  proof,  please  consider  the  case  of  other 
famous  agitators  and  revolutionary  leaders. 

Obregon  is  the  greatest  land  owner  and  capitalist  in 
Mexico. 

Morones  owns  palaces,  and  a fortune  in  jewels. 

Tejeda  possesses  enormous  wealth. 

A millonaire,  also,  is  the  engineer  potentate,  Leon. 

All  these  men,  as  is  the  case  of  Plutarco  Elias  Calles, 
have  spent  themselves  in  the  salvation  of  the  working  clas- 
ses purely  as  a labour  of  love  and  as  true  patriots. . . they 
are  not  attracted  by  riches ! ! ! ! 

* * * 

We  append  to  our  translation  another  article,  trans- 
lated from  the  “Revista  Catolica”,  of  December  18th,  1927. 

“WOULD  IT  WERE  SO!” 

“The  President  of  the  United  States,  Mr.  Coolidge, 
referring  to  the  feeling  of  good-will  that  animates  the 
Government  of  Washington  towards  the  Latin- American 
Republics,  said,  in  one  of  his  recent  talks : 

“Now,  more  than  ever,  we  are  preoccupied  with  our 
relations  with  Latin  America.  ...  We  desire  that  our  in- 
fluence among  the  Latin-American  peoples  be  on  the  side 
of  Liberty  and  honourable  constitutional  government.” 
And  he  added:  “I  believe  that  this  is  a true  presentation 
of  what  has  occurred  in  recent  times,  and  of  what  we  hope 
for  in  the  future.”  Would  that  such  beautiful  language 
were  true!  In  spite  of  these  declarations,  we  behold  the 
despotic  and  sanguinary  government  of  Mexico  sheltered 
and  sustained  by  the  very  government  over  which  Mr. 
Coblidge  presides.  Can  any  Government  be  found  more 
anti-constitutional  and  less  honourable  than  the  one  which 
actually  is  afflicting  the  Mexican  fatherland  with  crimes 
of  a most  shameful  nature  against  innocent  victims?  Per- 
haps the  Washington  government  regards  the  government 
of  Mexico  “honourable”  because  this  latter  pays  the  inter- 
ests of  its  debts  to  the  American  bankers  with  the  resources 
robbed  from  the  Catholic  Church  and  f *'om  private  citizens  ? 
What  does  he  mean  by  “honourable  government?”  What  is 
his  idea  of  liberty?  In  Mexico  there  is  no  liberty,  except 
for  Calles  and  his  bailifs,  for  criminals,  and  for  civil  and 
political  scoundrels. 

Behold  the  type  of  honour  characteristic  of  the  Mexican 
government  and  the  liberty  which  reigns  throughout  the 
land  painted  in  broad  strokes  by  the  Mexican  newspaper,  La 
Prensa,  published  in  San  Antonio,  Texas.  In  an  editorial  in 
the  issue  of  November  30,  1927,  commenting  on  toasts 
pronounced  by  General  Obregon  at  a banquet  given  by  a 


19 


group  of  his  friends — after  his  escape  from  an  alleged  at- 
tack against  his  life  — in  which  he  enlarged  upon  “the 
gigantic  work  of  natural  reconstruction”,  developed  by 
President  Calles : 

“Viewing  the  whole  Mexican  nation  under  whatever 
aspect  one  wishes  to  estimate  the  administrative  work  of 
General  Calles,  the  eyes  of  the  most  tolerant  and  optimistic 
can  encounter  nothing  except  ruin  and  despair.  The  regime 
of  this  citizen,  towards  whom  History  shall  have  to  be  ex- 
tremely severe,  very  far  for  having  reconstructed  anything 
in  our  national  life  has  destroyed  everything.  He  has  ruined 
agriculture,  reduced  to  the  lowest  degree  all  industrial  ac- 
tivity, impoverished  commerce,  has  imposed  upon  the 
populace  crushing  taxation;  he  has  abandoned  public  edu- 
cation, demoralized  the  army,  congress  and  the  Judiciary; 
he  has  enriched  the  ministers  and  his  close  personal  friends 
at  the  expense — through  despoilation  — of  hundreds  of 
private  citizens  he  regarded  as  unsympathetic  towards  the 
revolution.  He  has  wasted  the  contributions  of  the  people 
in  enterprises  entirely  foreign  to  the  object  for  which  they 
were  collected;  he  has  driven  forth  from  the  land  of  their 
birth  hundreds  of  thousands  of  Mexicans,  some  the  victims 
of  his  insatiable  cruelty,  others  of  that  public  misery  in 
which  he  has  inundated  the  nation.  He  has  brought  a trou- 
bled conscience  and  tragic  despair  to  the  majority  of  our 
compatriots  through  his  iniquitous  anti-religious  cam- 
paigns. He  has  trodden  under  foot  all  our  laws;  he  has 
flouted  our  rights,  and  outraged  all  our  liberties.  He  has 
imbrued  the  soil  of  the  nation  with  the  blood  of  innocent 
victims,  sacrificed  on  the  altars  of  his  caprices ; he  has  pro- 
voked a civil  war  in  which,  for  the  past  two  years,  a great 
number  of  Mexicans  die  daily.  We  fail  to  understand  how 
the  name  ‘National  reconstruction’  executed  ‘with  talent 
and  energy,’  could  be  applied,  in  any  country  or  in  any  lan- 
guage to  a line  of  conduct  as  we  all  observe  in  Mexico,  and 
such  as  has  been  experienced  in  other  countries  in  greater 
or  lesser  measure.” 

The  Revista  Catolica  editor  continues : 

“All  this,  Coolidge  and  his  government,  know  well,  and 
nevertheless  they  are,  in  the  words  of  Excelsior,  the  most 
important  newspaper  published  in  the  Mexican  capital,  in 
more  cordial  relations  with  the  infamous  regime  of  Calles 
than  existed  between  the  U.  S.  A.  and  Porfirio  Diaz ! Why  is 
it  so  ? There  is  no  shadow  of  doubt  that  the  present  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  is  in  great  measure  responsible 
for  the  calamities  that  afflict  the  martyred  peoples  of  Mex- 
ico.” 


CALLES,  PRESIDENT  OF  MEXICO 
By  HERNAN  DIAZ 
Translated  from  the  Spanish 
By  FR.  JOHN  MOCLAIR 

The  civilized  world,  contemplating  with  horror  the  of- 
ficial crimes  that  are  being  committed  in  the  Republic  of 
Mexico,  naturally  asks,  “How  could  a man  with  such  a past 
be  elected  President  ?” 

The  explanation  is  quite  simple.  Since  the  revolution- 
ary movement  gripped  the  unfortunate  country — thanks 
to  unlimited  aid  from  the  White  House  and  to  the  latter’s 
unbroken  friendship  with  the  revolutionary  leaders — the 
Mexican  people  have  been  under  the  iniquitous  rule  of  a 
Praetorian  oligarchy.  Practically  speaking,  there  are  no 
elections,  for  although  there  is  staged  an  electoral  farce, 
the  governors  of  states,  the  deputies,  the  senators  and  es- 
pecially the  President  no  longer  owe  their  appointment 
to  popular  election.  The  leaders  of  the  revolutionary  tyr- 
anny designate  beforehand  all  those  whom  it  behooves  them 
to  support,  in  order  to  cover  up  their  infamies,  and  these 
chosen  ones  inevitably  emerge  victorious  in  the  farcical 
election  caucuses.  The  people  are  now  so  thoroughly  aware 
of  this  fact  that  nothing  will  induce  them  to  take  a hand 
in  Mexico’s  political  games  of  chess.  They  have  grown 
tired  of  being  made  a butt  for  jest  and  sarcasm  by  the  pro- 
fessional politicians. 

As  the  end  of  his  presidential  term  drew  near,  Obre- 
gon cast  about  for  a possible  successor;  he  sought  for  one 
sufficiently  loyal  to  be  entrusted  with  power,  yet  such  a 
one  as  would  not  refuse  to  vacate  the  presidential  chair 
when  Obregon  should  desire  to  resume  power.  Obregon 
found  his  man  in  the  person  of  Plutarco  Elias  Calles,  one 
whom  the  people  profoundly  abhorred.  The  official  mach- 
inery was  set  in  motion,  servile  deputies  and  docile  gov- 
ernors of  all  the  States  were  nominated;  things  were  so 
skilfully  arranged  that  when  election  time  came  around  the 
electors  had  no  choice  nor  any  chance  of  making  their  real 
will  effective. 

At  this  juncture  Don  Adolfo  de  la  Huerta  presented  him- 
self as  a Presidential  candidate,  but  from  the  first  he  was 
made  to  realize  that  here  was  no  democratic  contest,  but 
a barefaced  imposition.  De  la  Huerta  resolved  to  oppose 
this  fraud  by  force  of  arms.  There  is  not  the  slightest 
reason  to  doubt  that  de  la  Huerta  would  have  triumphed 
but  for  the  intervention  of  White  House  functionaries.  They 


21 


took  steps  to  have*  Obregon  supplied  with  munitions  of  war, 
while  all  sources  of  supplies  were  cut  off  from  de  la  Huerta. 

The  rebellion  suppressed,  Calles  was  assured  of  the 
Presidency.  Not  to  Obregon  alone  does  Calles  owe  his  pres- 
ent position  but  to  the  Government  of  the  United  States, 
very  decided  and  consistent  friend  to  this  brace  of  Mexican 
bandits. 

In  such  manner,  a man  who  richly  deserved  to  spend 
the  rest  of  his  life  in  prison,  expiating  his  unspeakable 
crimes,  is  elevated  to  the  presidency,  only  to  become  the 
chief  executioner  of  the  Mexican  people.  Obregon  ceded 
his  authority  joyfully  and  with  every  mark  of  affection 
for  Calles.  “Take  good  care  of  the  throne  for  me,”  was 
his  facetious  remark  to  his  successor ! 

THE  PERSECUTION 

Scarcely  had  Calles  assumed  power  when  he  essayed 
to  impress  the  whole  country  with  honourable  administra- 
tive labours;  he  had  good  reason  to  fear  that  the  people 
would  remember  him  as  the  swindler  and  bartender  of  ear- 
lier days.  For  a brief  moment  the  people  thought  the  well- 
known  “HERO”  of  the  saloons  of  Guaymas  had  become 
transformed  into  a statesman.  Very  soon  the  rascal  showed 
himself  in  his  true  colors. 

Calles  had  attempted  to  prove  that  the  religious  perse- 
cution in  Mexico  was  the  result  of  the  “REBELLION”  of 
the  clergy;  the  real  truth  of  the  matter  is  that  Calles 
planned  his  savagery  in  advance,  and  patiently  prepared 
his  villainous  program.  Tejeda,  Secretary  of  State  in  the 
Calles,  Administration,  has  made  this  fact  perfectly  clear: 
he  did  not  realize,  when  he  spoke,  how  his  words  would 
serve  history.  “The  most  delicate  and  transcendental  prob- 
lem which  confronted  General  Calles  was,  without  doubt, 
the  religious  question,  because  it  affected  the  future  of  the 
country,  and  FOR  THIS  REASON  IT  WAS  CAREFULLY 
THOUGHT  OUT  BEFOREHAND.”1  Calles,  nevertheless, 
made  the  following  declaration  when  about  to  launch  his 
campaign  of  persecution: 

“The  Federal  Government  did  not  forget,  absorbed 
completely  as  was  its  attention  by  the  prodigious  problem 
of  administration  ...  it  did  not  forget,  I say,  the  eternal 
enemy,  the  clerical  evil  in  Mexico,  both  Mexican  and  for- 
eign . . . when  the  head  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Mexico, 
on  the  last  anniversary  of  the  Federal  Constitution,  brought 
forward  an  old  document  in  which  the  heads  of  the  Mexi- 
can clergy  repudiated  and  would  not  recognize  the  Cons- 


iReport  in  Mexican  Press,  Nov.  18,  1927. 


titution  of  the  Republic.”1  The  “old  document ” referred  to 
was  a protest  of  the  Episcopate  against  those  laws  to  be 
found  in  the  Constitution  which  denied  freedom  of  con- 
science. It  is  easy  to  realize  how  difficult  it  would,  be  for 
the  former  swindler  and  border  robber,  the  habitue  of 
unspeakable  gambling  houses  to  abandon  his  vicious  habits. 
Long  before  he  became  President,  Calles  carried  in  his 
pocket  a program  of  religious  persecution  planned  in  ad- 
vance. 


BLOOD-THIRSTY 

Religious  persecution  had  been  fierce  from  the  begin- 
ning but  never  attained  such  proportions  as  under  Calles. 
“Maestro  Mechas”  and  “Santanon”,  who  hanged  his  vic- 
tims from  lamp-posts,  and  martyrized  innocent  school- 
children,  now  gave  the  world  an  exhibtion  of  blood-thirsty 
barbarity.  Even  though  he  has  willed  to  place  the  respon- 
sibility on  his  executives,  Calles  himself  has  been  the  real 
author  of  these  martyrdoms.  Space  permits  merely  a bare 
narration  of  the  crimes  committed  against  the  Catholic 
clergy  and  the  laity:  We  are  forced  to  confine  ourselves 
to  a brief  mention  of  just  a few  incidents. 

Calles  circularized  all  the  military  leaders  and  Gover- 
nors of  the  various  states — each  one  of  these  was  a con- 
firmed demagogue  and  a tool  in  the  hands  of  the  tyrant — 
threatening  dire  punishment  unless  they  promptly  seconded 
what  he  called  “a  definite  solution  of  the  religious  prob- 
lem” ; this  has  been  really  a deliberate  attempt  to  extermin- 
ate the  Catholic  Church  in  Mexico.  The  chiefs  of  the  rev- 
olutionary hordes  who  hold  high  command  today  in  what 
they  style  “The  Army,”  embraced  with  pleasure  the  stimu- 
lating order  of  their  leader;  incited  by  the  Masonic  Lodges 
they  promptly  put  in  motion  the  bestial  and  sanguinary 
plans  of  the  ex-bartender,  President  Calles. 

In  Puebla  the  first  victim  fell.  Don  Jose  Garcia  Far- 
fan  was  an  old  and  highly  respected  citizen:  through  con- 
sistent industry  he  managed  a small  store  very  successfully. 
On  a sideboard  in  his  store  he  had  placed  a card  with  the 
motto:  “God  never  dies!”  General  Amaya,  chief  military 
officer  in  Puebla,  accosted  the  old  man,  and  bade  him  re- 
move this  motto.  The  old  man  replied  that  he  wasn’t  con- 
scious of  any  criminal  act  in  putting  up  this  sign:  he  felt 
he  was  simply  doing  a good  deed.  The  corpulent  general, 
a man  of  vile  disposition,  struck  Farfan  a cowardly  blow. 
The  old  man  promptly  repelled  this  attack  and  carried  on 
by  a perfectly  legitimate  desire  to  defend  himself,  fired  a 
shot  at  the  general,  merely  wounding  the  latter’s  hand. 


lJune  6th  1926-  Calles’  Speech,  reported  in  Mexican  Press. 


23 


Father  Pro  knelt  humbly  before  death,  to  pray,  and  to  commend 
his  soul  to  his  Creator.  Here  we  see  him  in  prayer  before  the  wall 
where  he  was  sacrificed.  One  of  Calles’  evil-looking  henchmen  urges 
the  priest  to  get  on  his  feet  as  they  want  to  have  the  murder  done 
as  quickly  as  possible.  Father  Pro  stood  up,  looking  serene,  and 
before  receiving  the  sacrilegious  shots  proclaimed  before  God  and  be- 
fore the  world  that  he  was  innocent  of  the  crime  imputed  to  him. 
He  extended  his  arms  in  the  form  of  a cross  and  thus  received  the  bul- 
lets which  Calles  ordered,  in  a breast  full  of  charity  and  the  loftiest 
Christian  virtues. 

This  priest  was  an  apostle  whose  burning  charity  led  him  to  every 
home  where  counsel  was  needed.  The  proof  of  his  innocence,  and  that 
he  was  incapable  of  committing  such  a crime  as  he  was  charged  with, 
is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  a cortege  of  fifteen  thousand  people  in 
Mexico  City  accompanied  his  body  to  the  cemetery;  they  struggled 
for  the  privilege  of  touching  the  coffin  with  pious  objects,  to  be  held 
forever  in  veneration.  In  the  minds  of  the  people  was  recorded  the 
conviction  that  the  motive  for  this  crime  was  no  other  than  the  terri- 
ble hatred  which  Calles  and  Obregon  have  for  the  Church. 

Crimes  like  these  cry  to  Heaven  for  vengeance,  and  should  weigh 
heavily  on  the  conscience  of  those  who,  for  illegitimate  political  in- 
terests, maintain  in  Mexico  an  empire  of  banditry  become  government. 


2h 


The  general  had  Farfan  arrested  and  brought  to  the  mil- 
itary barracks,  where  he  was  detained  while  General  Calles 
was  consulted.  ‘‘Kill  him  at  once,”  was  the  order  of  the 
Black  Czar.  Amaya  hastened  to  carry  out  the  President’s 
order  and  with  well-thought-out  cruelty,  Farfan  was  strict- 
ly forbidden  to  move  his  lips  in  prayer  in  the  last  moments 
of  his  life.  Thus  the  jackal  President  proceeds  to  reveal 
his  true  character ! 

A few  weeks  later  two  youths,  Joaquin  de  Silva,  seven- 
teen years  old,  a student,  and  Manuel  Melgarejo,  twenty- 
five,  a respectable  merchant  were  arrested  in  Zamora,  while 
engaged  in  a perfectly  inoffensive  religious  propaganda. 
Generals  Tranquilino  Mendoza  and  Francisco  Cepeda  seized 
these  young  men,  and  treated  them  with  the  fuiy  of  wild 
beasts.  Calles  was  consulted  as  to  the  disposition  of  the 
prisoners,  and  the  laconic  reply  was:  “Kill  them  imme- 
diately!” The  worthy  generals  carried  out  the  President’s 
order  in  the  Pantheon  of  Zamora : thus  were  two  loved  ones 
devoured  by  this  wild  beast,  and  two  homes  left  forever 
desolate. 

Some  time  later,  after  the  stupid  law  against  religion 
which  makes  it  a crime  for  a priest  to  conduct  a religious 
service,  was  well  under  way,  a zealous  butcher  in  the  rev- 
olutionary army  surprised  a priest  saying  Mass,  in  a pri- 
vate home  in  Chalchihuites,  state  of  Zacatecas : Mass,  was 
of  course  forbidden  in  the  churches.  The  priest  was  ar- 
rested, taken  from  the  town,  and  assassinated  by  the  ex- 
press orders  of  General  Calles,  transmitted  by  telegram. 
Three  fine  young  men,  members  of  the  Young  Men’s  Cath- 
olic Association  of  Mexico,  were  murdered  when  they 
begged  to  accompany  the  priest  on  his  journey  to  the  place 
of  execution. 

Father  David  Uribe,  pastor  of  the  church  of  Iguala, 
Guerrero,  was  assaulted  by  Calles’  agents,  on  the  road  from 
Cuernavaca  to  Mexico  City:  he  was  shot  in  the  back  for 
the  “crime”  of  distributing  hand-bills  to  his  flock,  warning 
them  against  the  peril  of  schism. 

In  April,  1927,  two  lawyers,  the  best  known  and  es- 
teemed in  Guadalajara,  Anacleto  Gonzalez  Flores  and  Luis 
Padilla,  with  the  brother  Vargas,  were  arrested  by  General 
Ferreira,  a special  confidant  of  Calles  in  this  region.  They 
were  guilty  of  no  crime  except  that  they  were  zealous  Cath- 
olics. Calles  is  consulted  as  to  their  fate  and  the  Black 
Czar  orders  Ferreira  to  “put  them  to  the  torture  and  kill 
them”  Suspended  in  mid-air  by  the  finger  tips,  they  first 
received  several  bayonet  thrusts — particular  vengeance  be- 
ing shown  to  Flores — and  finally  all  were  killed  as  if  they 
were  mad  dogs,  in  the  Colorado  barracks. 

Accused  of  disobeying  the  anti-religious  laws  being  en- 
forced by  Calles,  certain  young  men  of  Leon,  were  arrested : 


Valencia  Gallardo,  Ezequiel  Gomez,  Salvador  Vargas  and 
Nicolas  Navarro.  Held  prisoners,  their  captors  await  tel- 
egraphic orders  from  the  Black  Czar,  and  the  murderer- 
in-chief^  of  Mexico  gives  his  famous  order:  “Shoot  them 
at  once.”  The  order  was  duly  carried  out,  and  was  marked 
by  one  feature  of  unsurpassing  horror:  the  tongue  of  Va- 
lencia Gallardo  was  pulled  out  by  the  roots  because,  with 
his  dying  breath,  he  cried  out:  “Long  live  Christ  the 
King.” 

A very  short  time  ago — November  1927 — some  person 
unknown  threw  a bomb  at  General  Obregon,  the  political 
godfather  of  Calles.  A search  was  made  for  the  authors 
of  the  attack  but  no  one  was  found.  Then  the  Black  Czar's 
Chief  of  Police,  Roberto  Cruz,  arrested  the  Jesuit  priest, 
Fr.  Miguel  Agustin  Pro,  his  brother  Humbert,  the  Engineer 
Luis  Segura,  and  a poor  little  boy  of  the  community,  Anto- 
nio Tirado.  Ah ! these  are  the  guilty  ones ! They  are  Cath- 
olics and  therefore  guilty!  Cruz,  the  police  chief,  clearly 
admitted  this.  “Their  responsibility  for  the  crime  having 
been  completely  ‘proven’  it  was  arranged  to  have  them 
shot  at  once.”1  Now,  these  men  were  not  even  accused  of 
the  crime:  Cruz  became  their  judge  and  executioner. 
When  he  says : “it  was  arranged  to  have  them  shot  at  once,” 
he  refers  to  the  characteristically  hasty  order  of  Calles. 

In  order  to  oppose  the  return  to  the  presidency  of  Gen- 
eral Obregon,  certain  anti-reelectionist  political  parties 
were  organized.  Two  candidates  of  the  party  were  put 
forward,  General  Francisco  R.  Serrano  and  Arnulfo  Go- 
mez. Obregon  and  Calles  were  incensed;  the  very  idea  of 
their  being  deprived  of  control  of  the  government,  at  a 
given  moment,  made  these  bandits  wild ! Accordingly,  Gen- 
eral Serrano  was  arrested  in  a Hotel  in  Cuernavaca,  where 
he  was  celebrating  his  birthday,  with  a party  of  friends. 
He  was  taken  to  a military  barracks  and  together  with  thir- 
teen civilians,  shot  dead!  Among  the  victims  were  Attor- 
ney Martinez  de  Escobar,  the  poet  Otilio  Gonzalez  and  the 
Peralta  brothers. 

General  Gomez  escaped  the  fate  of  Serrano — temporarily 
— by  fleeing  to  Veracruz,  accompanied  by  a group  of  his 
supporters.  Thousands  of  troops  went  in  hot  pursuit : Go- 
mez was  captured  and  shot  by  order  of  the  Black  Czar. 
Here  we  see  the  ferocity  of  Calles  and  that  other  protege 
of  the  White  House,  Alvaro  Obregon,  reach  an  unprecented 
height.  They  brought  the  body  of  General  Serrano  to  Cha- 
pultepec  Castle — the  official  residence  of  the  Mexican  Pres- 
ident—to  make  sure  of  his  death  by  a personal  inspection ! 
Obregon  stood  over  the  corpse  and  exclaimed  with  pro- 


iDeclaration  of  the  Chief  of  Police,  R.  Cruz,  published  in  Ex- 
celsior— the  great  Mexico  City  journal. 


26 


found  satisfaction:  “This  is  the  birthday  present  I had 
prepared  for  them,  so  that  they  will  never  dare  to  dispute 
with  me  my  succession  to  the  Presidency!” 

THE  RECONSTRUCTIONIST 

Calles  has  spared  no  pains,  since  the  inception  of  his 
work  of  despoilation  to  assure  the  world  he  is  “reconstruct- 
ing the  nation  ” After  each  massacre,  after  each  wanton 
murder,  after  every  official  infamy,  he  has  cried  out  to 
the  four  winds:  “I  am  rebuilding  the  country”  You  can- 
not find  a more  interesting  task  than  examining  the  scope 
of  this  policy  of  “reconstruction” ! 

From  the  first  of  the  revolutionary  disasters,  the  emi- 
gration of  Mexicans  attained  alarming  proportions ; but  the 
figures  have  mounted  up  until  at  last  the  country  is  com- 
pletely held  fast  in  the  talons  of  the  “Restorer”  Calles. 
According  to  the  latest  official  returns  not  less  than  one 
and  a half  million  Mexicans  have  abandoned  their  native 
land  in  quest  of  refuge  on  foreign  soil.  Some  emigrated  in 
search  of  work,  others  in  quest  of  liberty  denied  them  by 
the  tyrant,  others  in  search  of  peace  and  tranquility  after 
seventeen  years  of  banditry  and  anarchy.  The  “Recons- 
tructionist,” far  from  staunching  this  terrible  bleeding  of 
the  country,  has  taken  special  pains  to  drive  out  of  Mexico 
all  independent  newspapermen,  disaffected  politicians,  and 
every  person  whose  presence  threatened  a check  on  the 
unbridled  passions  of  the  Black  Czar. 

One  must  bear  in  mind  that  Mexico  does  not  suffer 
from  over-population,  but  the  reverse.  She  needs  every 
arm  for  her  proper  development:  consequently  this  tide  of 
emigration  means,  for  the  most  part,  deserted  fields,  an 
industrial1  crisis  due  to  shortage  of  labor,  and  poverty  has 
invaded  every  branch  of  national  activity. 

After  the  marauding  hordes  of  Carranza  passed  over 
the  land,  agriculture  was  left  in  a deplorable  condition. 
The  “ Liberators ” left  behind  them  wasted  fields,  empty 
granaries  and  a fruitful  country  turned  to  ashes.  But 
there  is  still  room  for  “ reconstruction  ” and  for  this  task  is 
the  man,  Calles!  Giving  a free  rein  to  “Agrarianism”  he 
armed  the  peons  who  worked  in  the  estates,  and  lent  his 


iTranslator’s  Note:  Agents  of  Calles  are  now  arranging  for 
the  colonization  of  Lower  California.  Los  Angeles  County  has  300,000 
Mexican  exiles!  But  Germans,  not  exiled  Mexicans  are  to  settle  in 
Mexican  abandoned  farms!  Harry  Chandler,  owner  of  the  Los  An- 
geles Times,  holds  862,000  acres  in  Mexico  since  1896!  In  1911  the 
United  States  Senate  estimated  the  total  wealth  of  Mexico  at  2,434,- 
241,422;  of  this  total  the  United  States  then  owned  one  and  one-half 
billions!  Two  thirds  of  Mexico’s  wealth!  Thus  have  Mexicans  of 
the  Calles’  type  sold  their  native  land  to  foreign  capitalists  without 
conscience. 


Sr.  Luis  Segura  Vilchis  was  arrested  with  Father  Pro.  He  was 
a young  and  most  highly  respected  member  of  Mexican  society.  He 
was  accused  of  being  the  author  of  the  attack  on  Obregon,  but  the 
real  reason  for  his  imprisonment  and  later  execution  was  that  he  was 
a Catholic.  He  was  a member  c'  ';he  Mexican  Catholic  Young  Men’s 
Society  and  stood  out  as  a man  distinguished  for  his  religious  life, 
his  singular  talent  and  exemplary  conduct. 

He  had  no  legal  trial,  no  defense  attorney’s  services.  He  was 
assassinated,  with  rank  injustice,  a few  moments  after  Fr.  Pro  was 
killed.  Enough  that  Roberto  Cruz,  Inspector  General  of  Police  under 
Calles  and  a criminal  of  national  reputation,  asked  him  a few  ques- 
tions declared  him  guilty  and  ordered  his  murder. 

Nevertheless,  Cruz  said  that  the  engineer  confessed  his  guilt, 
but  he  has  no  proof,  and  the  dead  do  not  rise  to  refute  a lie! 

When  Cruz  was  closely  questioned  about  this  illegal  process, 
which  cannot  be  paralleled  in  the  most  savage  countries,  he  said,  dryly, 
that  he  had  received  “higher  orders,”  referring  to  Calles. 

There  are  laws  in  Mexico  which  demand  a fair  trial  for  the  ac- 
cused, no  matter  how  evident  their  guilt;  there  are  tribunals  of  justice. 
In  the  Constitution  are  inserted  guarantees  that  citizens  shall  not  be 
even  imprisoned  without  judicial  authority.  Calles  and  his  associates 
recognize  no  law  and  no  tribunal.  Their  only  law  is  caprice,  their  only 
tribunal  is  their  hatred  of  society. 

This  picture  shows  the  Engineer  Segura  at  the  moment  of  his 
assassination. 


28 


protection  to  every  malefactor ; in  a little  time  the  proprie- 
tors were  forced  to  abandon  their  farms:  the  fields  were 
cultivated  no  more,  and  at  last  divided  up  among  the  sup- 
porters of  the  Calles’  regime! 

No  man  can  compute  the  vast  acreage  of  arable  land 
destroyed  by  the  supporters  of  Calles ; taken  from  the  law- 
ful owners,  they  were  handed  over  to  the  peasants  with 
scandalous  prodigality;  the  peasants,  poor  dupes,  were  ab- 
solutely unfitted  for  proprietorship  of  the  land,  and  being 
without  means  of  cultivating  the  soil,  they  at  once  aban- 
doned their  labor  in  the  fields.  In  this  fashion,  vast  re- 
gions, like  those  of  Guanajuato,  Morelos  and  Guerrero,  so 
rich  before  in  agricultural  produce,  have  become  impov- 
erished and  ruined.  Meanwhile  the  decent  peasants,  who 
would  have  none  of  this  policy  of  expoilation,  have  been 
forced  to  quit  the  land  and  seek  in  the  land  of  the  stranger 
work  denied  them  at  home. 

Blindly  and  stupidly  the  American  Federation  of  La- 
bor has  espoused  the  cause  of  that  doleful  Soviet  organiza- 
tion, “the  Regional  Confederation  of  Labor.”  This  Mexi- 
can organization  compels  all  industrial  employees  through- 
out the  land  to  join  the  labor  syndicate  in  their  respective 
districts.  The  real  purpose  of  this  regulation  is  to  place 
every  labor  element  in  Mexico  at  the  political  service  of 
Calles  and  Obregon.  In  this  way  is  created  a mass  of  de- 
pendents, who,  compelled  by  the  necessity  of  subsistence, 
shall  serve  as  props  and  stays  for  the  tyrannical  regime 
of  the  incorrigible  ex-bartender,  Calles!1 

Industrial  enterprise  has  been  paralyzed  by  immod- 
erate demands  for  increase  of  salary,  incredibly  frequent 
strikes,  and  by  innumerable  wanton  attacks  made  on  the 
independent  workers;  these  attacks  have  been  made  with 
impunity,  thanks  to  the  open  connivance  of  the  Govern- 
ment. Many  industrial  plants  continue  work  merely  to 
exist;  there  is  no  stimulus  to  growth  or  expansion.  No 
sane  man  would  today  risk  investing  his  money  in  any  new 


iTranslator’s  Note:  During-  the  past  century  United  States' 
capitalists  have  exploited  the  great  material  wealth  of  Mexico.  They 
have  bought  the  services  of  every  Mexican  degenerate  willing  to  sell 
his  country.  The  American  Labor  Organizations  have  either  never 
troubled  to  study  the  situation  or  else  have  been  blinded  by  prejudice, 
for  they  never  helped  the  “under-dog”  in  Mexico.  Five  American 
Protestant  sects  voted  sixty  million  dollars,  in  1914,  to  “evangelize 
Mexico  and  perpetuate  the  Carranza  regime”!  From  Washington 
they  sent  9,000  tables  to  the  illiterate  soldiers  of  Carranza.  In  1916 
the  Times  Picayune  stated:  “If  we  desire  to  cultivate  friendly  rela- 
tions with  Spanish-American  nations,  it  is  with  one  end  in  view,  to 
control  the  commerce  of  these  countries.”!  On  February  20th  1916,  a 
speaker  declared  at  the  Protestant  Congress  in  Panama:  “American- 
ism consists  in  making  to  march  together,  and  in  step,  business  and 
Protestantism.”  Mexico  today  is  the  sad  victim  of  a double  dose  of 
this  type  of  “Americanismo.” 


29 


Mexican  enterprise  since  the  investment  of  capital  has  be- 
come a foolhardy  adventure.  Consequently,  despite  the  fact 
that  Mexico  has  an  incomparable  supply  of  raw  materials, 
no  great  industrial  activity  and  other  ideal  conditions  for 
industrial  expansion,  such  few  small  industries  as  are  in 
the  country,  have  a hard  struggle  to  survive.  Constantly  in 
danger  of  extinction,  we  can  imagine  what  effect  the  un- 
stable condition  of  the  factories  has  on  the  poor  workers: 
these  are  forced,  through  privation  and  artificial  misery, 
to  abandon  their  native  land.  Consider  the  exodus  to  Tex- 
as, New  Mexico,  Arizona  and  California.  As  proofs  of 
these  statements:  in  the  Southwest  an  ever  rising  tide  of 
Mexican  laborers  inundate  the  land;  they  are  driven  from 
home  by  famine  and  no  man  can  hazard  a guess  at  their 
numbers.  Thus  has  mis-government  produced  famine  in 
a land  of  potential  plenty.  Calles  still  calls  all  this  “Na- 
tional Reconstruction !” 

The  population  of  Mexico,  according  to  the  1925  cen- 
sus, is  98%  Catholic.  Calles  has  promulgated  laws  which 
make  religious  life  impossible  so  that  today  there  is  not  one 
church  in  Mexico  open  for  religious  worship.  All  those  who 
protested  against  this  oppression  have  been  declared  “sedi- 
tious’’ and  promptly  put  to  death.  A far  too  moderate  es- 
timate place  at  three  thousand  the  number  killed,  in  divers 
manners,  in  just  one  year  of  religious  persecution.  If  to 
these  we  add  the  uncounted  massacres  of  politicians — Calles 
ordered  the  whole  House  of  Deputies  of  the  State  of  Mo- 
relos to  be  killed  at  once — we  immediately  grasp  the  enor- 
mity of  this  policty  of  devastation  of  a whole  nation  now 
near  consummation  under  the  tyranny  of  this  cynical  “Re- 
constructionist.” 

Now,  if  there  exists  in  any  land  a proper  foundation 
for  its  well-being,  we  should  look  for  it  in  time-honoured 
institution.  Calles  thinks  otherwise;  in  order  to  make  his 
infamous  program  effective  he  has  studiously  flouted  his 
country’s  noblest  institutions. 

..--Consider,  first,  the  army.  The  Mexican  army  has  be- 
come a band  of  murderers,  without  an  idea  of  dignity,  of 
valour  or  of  a sense  of  duty.  It  has  become  a murder- 
machine  for  the  killing  of  the  innocent  and  the  defenceless. 
In  all  the  armies  of  civilized  nations,  the  generals  are  the 
very  incarnation  of  honour  and  patriotism  and  this  spirit 
permeates  all  ranks  of  officers  and  through  them  affects 
the  private  soldier.  In  the  Calles  army,  if  you  would  find 
an  honourable  man  you  must  search  for  him  among  a se- 
lect few  of  the  private  soldiers.  Honour  and  valour  disap- 
pear in  proportion  as  we  ascend  the  ranks  and  when  we 
reach  the  commanding  officers  we  find  not  one  decent  man. 
Obregon,  tutor  and  political  godfather  of  Calles,  cynically 
remarked,  “There  is  no  general  who  can  resist  a cannonade 


If  this  photograph  fails  to  move  the  American  people,  and  above 
all  those  functionaries  who  persist  in  maintaining  criminals  in  power 
in  Mexico,  then  no  argument  can  be  found  sufficiently  cogent  to  im- 
pel men  to  seek  justice  for  the  Mexican  people,  nor  is  there  any  valid 
reason  for  same. 

Here  we  have  a picture  of  Senor  Segura,  in  the  fullness  of 
youth;  on  his  noble  brow  shines  the  light  that  illumines  the  morning 
of  life;  the  picture  was  taken  at  the  very  instant  the  bullets  entered 
his  body.  Note  the  contraction  of  the  body,  his  expression  in  which 
intense  pain  is  united  with  Christian  resignation.  Beside  the  Engineer 
Segura  lies  the  bloody  corpse  of  Father  Pro  who  has  just  been  assassi- 
nated. At  his  side  you  notice  the  wooden  figures  which  serve  as  tar- 
gets for  the  soldiers  in  their  spare  time,  so  that  when  they  receive 
the  order  to  kill  their  aim  may  be  sure! 

Luis  Segura  was  cruelly  tortured  before  his  death.  The  hospital 
surgeon,  who  performed  the  autopsy,  declared  that  the  young  vic- 
tim’s hands  bore  unmitakable  signs  of  his  having  been  tortured.  The 
same  surgeon  avers  that  the  body  bore  marks  which  showed  that  “un- 
speakable things”  (textual  phrase)  had  been  done  to  the  young  man. 
The  methods  of  torturing  the  unfortunate  before  assassination,  em- 
ployed by  the  Calles’  police,  are  far  too  nauseating  to  write. 


31 


of  fifty  thousand  dollars!”  They  all  sell  their  sword  to 
the  highest  bidder. 

Guardians  of  order  and  protectors  of  society  ? The  mil- 
itars  in  Mexico  have  become  a scourge  to  the  people  and  a 
constant  deadly  menace  to  all  citizens  of  orderly  habits. 
The  inversion  has  been  absolute. 

Tribunals  of  Justice  have  been  likewise  corrupted. 
There  is  not  in  the  entire  Republic  a single  court  of  justice 
that  enjoys  freedom  to  pass  a just  sentence.  All  court 
decisions  need  the  sanction  of  the  Black  Czar  for  their  val- 
idity. 

The  legislative  assemblies  should  represent  the  people: 
in  Mexico  they  are  not  composed  of  duly  elected  citizens 
but  are  a sorry  collection  bf  servile  figurines,  selected  by 
“Maestro  Mechas”,  Calles.  In  them  he  finds  willing  sec- 
onds for  his  caprices  and  fanaticisms.  We  truthfully  sum 
up  the  whole  question  by  saying:  there  is  no  institution  in 
all  Mexico  that  remains  free:  the  terrible  work  of  prosti- 
tutions threatens  to  undermine  the  very  foundation  of  the 
nations.  Unfortunately  for  Mexico,  to  undermine  the  na- 
tion is  “reconstruction”  according  to  the  Calles’  idea;  in 
this  way  the  drunkard  of  Guaymas  rules  the  unfortunate 
inhabitants,  and  enforces  his  will  at  the  point  of  the  bay- 
onet. 


CALLES : “PHILOSOPHER” ! 

When  the  Catholic  people  resolutely  demanded  the  re- 
peal of  the  anti-religious  laws,  Calles  assured  them  that  it 
was  necessary,  first  of  all,  to  ask  for  the  reform  of  the 
Constitution  of  1917.  As  is  well  known,  this  famous  Mex- 
ican Constitution  is  a sink  into  which  the  Carranza  revolu- 
tionary leaders,  sheltered  and  caressed  by  President  Wil- 
son, poured  all  the  Jacobin  filth  in  their  systems.  Calles 
knew  his  Congress;  entirely  made  up  of  his  hand-picked 
dependents  he  felt  quite  confident  they  would  reject  the 
people’s  petition,  albeit  Congress  bore  the  title  of  “popular 
representatives” ! 

Somebody  asked  Calles,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  he  had 
so  obligingly  pointed  out  the  way  to  redress,  to  introduce 
this  measure  of  reform  to  Congress.  He  bluntly  refused: 
“My  philosophical  convictions  forbid  it,”  he  said!  So  Ca- 
lles, the  ex-bartender,  drunkard,  incendiary,  and  murderer- 
in-chief  of  Mexico  is  also  a Philosopher ! He  does  not  know 
what  philosophy  means  since  he  calls  his  Jacobinism  “phil- 
osophical convictions.”  No  phrase  could  better  express  his 
petulant  ignorance.  Philosophy,  by  extension,  signifies  “the 
solving  of  questions  which  the  mind  puts  to  itself  relative 
to  the  most  important  subjects  with  which  the  mind  can 
deal” ; it  is  “organized  and  supreme  common  sense” ; “a 


system  of  orderly  mental  arrangement  embracing  all  the 
sciences,  so  as  to  be  defined  as  “the  science  of  the  univer- 
sality of  things.”  To  say  one  “holds  philosophical  convic- 
tions,” as  Calles  says  he  does,  is  to  be  ignorant  of  the  mean- 
ing of  the  word  “philosophical”  and  of  the  word  “convic- 
tions.” But  after  all,  what  should  we  expect  from  the  in- 
cendiary of  Sonora? 

Preparing  an  article  for  the  American  Press  he  de- 
clared that  Russian  Sovietism  appealed  to  him  “as  a phil- 
oshophical  system.”  Notice  the  silly  inaccuracies:  “The 
Soviet  system  solely  interests  Mexico — (which  Mexico?  we 
ask) — because  it  represents  a new  philosophy,  a new  social 
point  of  view  ...”  So  does  Sovietism  become  a new  phil- 
osophy although  every  school  boy  knows  it  is,  above  every- 
thing else,  an  economic  system.  This  class  of  flippant  but 
shameful  ignorance  falls  in  foaming  torrents  from  the  lips 
of  the  mediocre  ex-master  of  a rural  school,  since  he  began 
to  play  the  role  of  Reformer.  Since  he  has  assumed  the 
airs  of  a philosopher,  we  must  not  be  surprised  at  his  use 
of  language  truly  philosophical.  We  will  quote  a few  sam- 
ples. 

When  the  Religious  Defense  League  commenced  its  he- 
roic resistance  to  tyranny  Calles  declared,  and  his  state- 
ments were  faithfully  reported  in  the  press,  that  he  was 
not  “worried  by  the  grimaces  of  a bunch  of  sacristans  nor 
by  the  groans  of  a few  pious  hags.”  Such  eloquence  is 
surely  worthy  of  such  a philosopher ! A gutter  philosopher, 
perhaps.  A short  time  later,  at  a Convention  of  the  CROM1 
he  made  a speech  in  which  he  inveigled  against  the  inde- 
pendent press  and  called  the  newspapermen  “a  bunch  of 
scandalous  drunkards  and  pen-hirelings.”  Could  any  Pres- 
ident be  more  philosophic  and  more  vile? 

THE  ILLEGALITY  OF  THE  TYRANNY 

One  of  the  most  exasperating  features  of  the  Calles’ 
regime  is  its  Pharisaical  “legalism.”  Every  time  he  com- 
mits an  outrage,  orders  a shooting  of  some  hapless  victim — 
this  is  a daily  occurrence — every  time  he  sanctions  the  vex- 
ation and  unspeakably  cruel  torture  of  the  thousands 
thrown  into  prison  at  his  order,  Calles  has  declared  with 
cynical  boast  that  it  is  all  because  of  his  zeal  for  the  obser- 
vance of  the  law ! He  says  he  is  compelled  to  have  the  laws 
obeyed  at  all  costs,  and  as  these  laws  are  severe  it  becomes 
necessary  to  employ  the  most  cruel  means  to  have  them  ob- 
served ! 

What  superb  hypocrisy ! Who  can  suppose  that  Calles 


1CROM:  This  is  the  abbreviated  title  of  the  Confederacion 
Regional  Obrera  Mexicana”:  “Mexican  District  Federation  of  Labor.” 


33 


is  a faithful  observer  of  the  law  since  his  life  has  been  an 
unbroken  and  interminable  violation  of  the  law : he  has  at- 
tained to  his  present  position  through  a chain  of  unlawful 
acts  of  usurpation  climaxing  his  shameful  record  as  Gov- 
ernor of  Sonora.  His  most  insignificant  acts  have  been 
against  law.  Now,  if  all  tyrannical  power,  even  though 
lawful  at  its  inception  ceases  to  be  lawful  from  the  moment 
it  sins  against  the  real  purpose  of  authority  and  gradually 
becomes  a scourge  of  the  people,  and  a source  of  evil  to  the 
commonweal,  surely  the  tyrannical  regime  of  this  odious 
despot  is  illegal  both  in  its  origin  and  in  its  duration.  It 
would  be  childish  to  look  for  respect  for  the  natural  and  di- 
vine laws  which  govern  society  in  a man  who  has  made 
open  boast  of  his  having  violated  the  most  basic  of  the  mo- 
ral laws.  But  even  if  we  grant  that  he  has  proven  himself 
a zealous  guardian  of  the  Constitution  of  1917 — imposed  on 
the  people  by  a successful  revolution — let  us  see  whether 
in  fact  he  respects  this  Constitution,  the  great  object  of 
his  great  love ! 

Article  82  of  said  Constitution  says : “For  the  Presid- 
ency it  is  required  . . . V. — That  the  candidate,  if  an  army 
nan,  be  not  on  active  service  ninety  days  before  the  elec- 
tion; VII. — He  must  not  have  participated,  directly  or  in- 
directly, in  any  mutiny,  insurrection,  or  military  coup 
d’etat.”  Calles  remained  in  the  army,  with  rank  of  “general 
of  division”  during  the  ninety  days  preceding  the  electoral 
farce  that  made  him  President!  He  used  his  military  po- 
sition to  secure  his  own  election,  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet, 
since  he  could  never  be  elected  to  any  position  by  a lawful 
vote.  He  not  only  took  part  in  a “mutiny,  insurrection  and 
military  coup  d’etat”  but  he  organized  the  military  intrigue 
which  culminated,  thanks  to  the  cooperation  of  Obregon,  in 
the  assassination  of  Carranza.  In  this  way  they  got  control 
and  established  their  loathsome  diumvirate  of  government, 
first  the  one  and  then  the  other  alternately,  as  if  the  gov- 
ernment were  a fief  bequeathed  them. 

The  house  of  deputies  which  proclaimed  the  exbar- 
tender President,  was  itself  installed  in  quite  a gay  manner. 
On  the  opening  day  of  Congress  a group  of  hand-picked 
individuals — selected  by  Calles  and  Obregon  to  fill  Con- 
gress and  protected  by  the  militia — seized  the  House,  so  that 
when  the  other  elected  representatives  arrived  there  was  no 
admittance  for  them.  The  assembly — created  by  Calles 
and  Obregon — declared  itself  “by  law  established”  and  then 
issued  a proclamation  declaring  that  “General  Calles  had 
triumphed  in  the  elections”!!  Where  in  history  can  one 
find  a more  illegal  system  for  the  usurpation  of  govern- 
ment: Calles  selected  and  put  in  office  the  men  who  were 
told  to  declare  him  elected  President!  Yes,  this  is  an  un- 
precented  comedy. 


THIS  PICTURE  WE  DEEM  TOO 
GRUESOME  TO  PRINT.  IT  IS  PUB- 
LISHED IN  THE  SPANISH  EDITION 


Father  Miguel  Agustin  Pro,  S.  J.,  one  of  the  one  hundred  forty- 
seven  priests  assassinated  by  Calles  since  his  regime  began.  Father 
Pro  was  a young  Jesuit  priest,  recently  arrived  in  Mexico.  He  came 
from  Belgium  where  he  had  just  completed  his  studies. 

On  the  13th  of  November  1927  two  bombs  were  exploded  beside 
the  automobile  in  which  General  Obregon  was  riding;  no  damage  was 
done,  and  consequently  everybody  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
bombs  were  merely  a pretext  to  commit  further  crimes  against  those 
whom  Calles  and  Obregon  so  savagely  hate.  Two  days  later  Father 
Pro  was  arrested.  The  police  attacked  his  residence  at  three  a.  m., 
and  did  not  grant  him  time  to  dress  before  taking  him  to  prison.  With 
him  were  arrested  his  two  brothers. 

They  were  imprisoned  in  the  dungeon  of  the  Inspector  General’s 
office,  accused  of  having  thrown  the  bombs.  They  had  no  trial;  they 
were  not  brought  before  any  civil  judge;  they  were  denied  the  right 
of  defense;  they  were  not  even  told  they  were  about  to  be  murdered! 

On  the  23d  of  November,  1927,  Father  Pro  was  violently  dragged 
from  his  prison  cell,  and  conducted  to  the  square  in  front  of  the 
Police  Inspector’s  ofice,  where  was  drawn  up  a strong  military  force. 
A platoon  of  soldiers  took  him  and  cowardly  assassinated  him,  vio- 
lating every  law,  every  principle  of  justice,  the  most  elemntary  pos- 
tulates of  civilization. 

In  the  same  fashion  in  which  Father  Pro  was  killed,  one  hundred 
and  forty-seven  other  priests  have  been  murdered.  Some  others  who 
were  made  martyrs  in  the  states  of  the  Republic  were  hanged  from 
trees,  with  the  added  infamy  of  having  an  inscription  of  unspeakable 
type  attached  to  them! 

And  all  this  takes  place  in  a so-called  age  of  freedom!  Yes,  and 
those  who  actually  carry  out  such  crimes  are  applauded  by  the  United 
States  Government — the  government  of  that  great  nation  which  is  the 
home  of  all  lawful  liberty! 


THIS  PICTURE  WE  ALSO  DEEM  TOO 
GRUESOME  TO  PRINT.  IT  IS  PUB- 
LISHED IN  THE  SPANISH  EDITION 


Behold  this  picture  of  another  youthful  victim  of  Calles  and 
Obregon:  Sr.  Humberto  Pro,  brother  of  the  assassinated  Priest. 

Twenty-four  years  old  was  this  martyr  to  savagery.  He  was, 
like  young  Segura,  a man  of  complete  righteousness.  He  was  a 
model  son,  a gentleman  without  blemish  and  an  ideal  citizen.  He  held 
with  distinction  due  to  his  honesty  and  ability,  the  post  of  Treasurer 
of  the  Bank  of  Mexico.  Nobody  so  much  as  whispered  a word  against 
his  ability  or  his  conduct.  He  was  dragged  from  his  home  by  the  hired 
murderers,  and  butchered  in  the  same  illegal  manner  as  were  his  fel- 
low martyrs. 


35 

Humberto  Pro  was  also  a member  of  the  A.  C.  J.  M.  (Catholic 
Association  of  Mexican  Youth)  and  this  drew  the  attention  of  that 
band  who  desire  the  extirpation  of  all  religious  beliefs  in  Mexico. 

In  his  shooting  we  find  details  particularly  cruel.  He  was  the 
last  to  be  killed  so  he  had  to  stand  up  beside  his  brother’s  corpse  and 
stand  in  his  brother’s  blood! 

Humberto  Pro  protested  to  the  last  moment  his  innocence.  Nev- 
ertheless it  was  necessary  that  he  should  die  to  assuage  the  insatiable 
blood-thirst  of  the  tyrant. 

The  responsibility  for  these  unspeakable  infamies — we  have  had 
space  for  just  a few — falls  on  the  material  authors,  it  is  true,  but 
do  not  forget  that  these  men  would  not  be  in  power  but  for  the  aid 
given  them  by  the  United  States  government. 

A few  days  after  these  crimes  were  committed  the  United  States 
Ambassador,  Mr.  Morrow,  took  a long  trip,  a holiday  tour,  with  Calles, 
as  a proof  of  friendship!  . . . 


THIS  IS  ANOTHER  PICTURE  WE  DEEM 
TOO  HORRIBLE  TO  PRINT.  IT  IS  PUB- 
LISHED IN  THE  SPANISH  EDITION 


Here  is  the  body  of  young  Segura,  on  a slab  in  the  hospital,  after 
the  shooting.  We  have  already  given  some  data  about  this  young 
man  but  we  wish  to  supplement  it.  Segura  belonged  to  a distinguished 
family  of  the  Metropolis.  He  made  his  earlier  studies  in  the  French 
College  in  Mexico,  being  conspicuous  both  by  reason  of  his  exceptional 
mental  ability  and  exemplary  conduct.  While  still  very  young  he  en- 
tered the  College  of  Engineering  and  secured  his  degree  in  Engineer- 
ing. Before  his  twenty  first  year  he  was  practising  his  profession 
at  the  Electric  Plant  of  Necaxa:  here  he  attracted  attention  on  ac- 
count of  his  technical  knowledge,  his  irreproachable  conduct,  affable 
disposition  and  above  all  for  his  code  of  honorable  behaviour  that 
was  never  stained. 

The  Mexico  City  Street-car  Company  placed  him  in  the  Engin- 
eering Department,  where  he  was  the  youngest  member,  but  in  spite 
of  his  youth  he  was  a prime  favorite  on  account  of  his  talent  and  his 
goodness.  From  here  he  was  dragged  by  Calles’  murder  gang  to  his 
assassination. 

Young  Segura  was  a member  of  the  A.  C.  J.  M.  (Association  of 
Mexican  Catholic  Youth)  as  we  said  elsewhere,  and  here  also  was  he 
noted  for  his  virtuous  life.  In  fact  this  was  the  reason  for  his  assas- 
sination. 

Segura  is  only  one  of  seventy-four  youths  who  have  been  mur- 
dered in  the  same  fashion  in  different  parts  of  the  Republic. 

This  is  how  Calles  rules:  murdering  all  decent  people. 

In  the  photograph  one  can  see  clearly  the  corpse  of  Segura  cov- 
ered with  blood.  This  blood  is  £n  affront  to  civilization  and  a cause 
for  shame  to  the  American  continent,  because  it  is  the  blood  of  a just 
man,  it  is  the  blood  of  a young  and  useful  citizen,  because  it  is  the 
blood  of  an  innocent  man  whose  only  crime  was  that  of  being  “perso- 
na non  grata”  to  the  Black  Beast  who  rules  the  destinies  of  Mexico. 


36 


Article  IV  says:  “No  man  may  be  prevented  from 
dedicating  his  life%  to  any  profession,  commercial  occupa- 
tion, industry  or  labor  that  may  suit  him,  provided  such 
profession,  labor,  etc.,  are  lawful”;  and  Section  V of  Arti- 
cle 130  establishes — quite  arbitrarily  too — that  “the  minis- 
ters of  Religion  shall  be  considered  as  men  who  follow  a 
profession  and  shall  be  directly  subject  to  such  laws  as  may 
be  made  in  this  connection.”  The  Calles  government  has 
not  only  impeded  the  exercise  of  the  priesthood,  openly  vio- 
lating constituional  law  which  he  professes  to  respect,  but 
has  condemned  a multitude  of  priests  to  assassination.  Ac- 
cording to  data  furnished  by  Mr.  W.  J.  Montavon,  in  a pub- 
lic lecture  given  in  New  York,  Nov.  29th  1927,  ONE  HUN- 
DRED AND  FORTY  SEVEN  PRIESTS  HAVE  BEEN 
MURDERED  BY  CALLES.  To  this  number  must  be  ad- 
ded several  others  ordered  to  be  shot  in  recent  weeks.  Those 
who  have  not  been  assassinated  have  been  either  driven  from 
the  country,  or  else  those  who  remained  are  obliged  to  live 
in  hiding  places  as  if  they  were  criminal  vagabonds. 

Article  VI  says:  “The  expression  of  ideas  shall  not 
be  an  object  of  any  judicial  or  administrative  inquiry,  un- 
less there  be  an  attack  on  the  moral  law.”  And  Article  VII 
adds:  “The  liberty  to  write,  and  to  publish  one’s  writing 
on  any  subject  whatsoever  is  inviolable.”  Calles  has  shown 
absolutely  no  respect  for  these  articles  of  the  Constitution 
For  proof  we  state  the  fact  that  he  has  expelled  all  inde- 
pendent newspapermen,  shut  down,  by  force,  a number  of 
printing  presses,  and  shamelessly  pillaged  a number  of  pub- 
lishing houses  throughout  the  Republic.  Among  exiled 
newspapermen  we  mention  the  names  of  Don  Jose  Elguero, 
Don  Victoriano  Salado  Alvarez,  Don  Jesus  Guisa  y Azevedo, 
Don  Felix  Palavicini  and  a host  of  others  whose  names 
would  make  a tremendous  list. 

Article  VIII  provides  that  “Public  functionaries  and 
employees  shall  respect  the  exercise  of  the  right  of  petition, 
provided,  always,  it  be  formulated  in  writing  and  in  a peace- 
ful and  respectful  manner.”  One  incident  will  amply  prove 
how  this  article  has  been  grossly  violated  by  Calles.  When 
the  church  of  the  Holy  Family  was  closed,  by  order  of  Ca- 
lles, several  hundreds  of  the  most  distinguished  ladies  from 
the  highest  stratum  of  society  came  before  the  ministry 
of  Government,  bearing  a written  petition,  in  which  an 
appeal  was  made  for  the  opening  of  the  church.  Tejeda, 
the  Minister,  refused  to  receive  them  and  Calles  ordered 
Roberto  Cruz,  the  sanguinary  jackal  who  is  Inspector  Gen- 
eral of  Police,  to  have  the  distinguished  ladies  driven  forth 
by  water  hose  in  the  hands  of  the  municipal  firemen ! The 
brutal  order  was  carried  out  with  fitting  barbarity  and  a 
complete  absence  of  chivalry.  Cruz  went  in  person  and  ac- 
tually struck  many  of  these  good  ladies  with  a whip ; there 


37 


are  women  of  noble  birth  and  gentle  breeding  in  Mexico  to- 
day who  still  bear  on  their  faces  the  marks  of  the  cruel 
whipping  at  the  hands  of  this  savage.  And  this  is  Calles’ 
idea  of  respect  for  the  right  of  petition ! 

Article  IX  says:  “The  right  to  associate  or  convene 
for  any  lawful  purpose,  peacefully,  shall  not  be  restricted.,, 
All  religious  organizations  have  been  suppressed;  their 
homes  despoiled,  their  superiors  either  imprisoned  or  ex- 
iled, and  their  members  subjected  to  unrelenting  surveill- 
ance. 

Article  XI  says  that  “no  person  may  be  judged  by  se- 
cret tribunals  nor  by  secret  regulations.’’  For  the  killing 
of  many  Catholic  citizens  not  only  have  special  secret  regu- 
lations been  made  and  special  tribunals  established  but  with 
not  even  a semblance  of  legal  form;  common  soldiers  and 
gendarmes,  organized  into  sanguinary  tribunals,  have  sav- 
agely murdered  some  of  the  finest  citizens  in  the  Republic. 

Article  XVI  provides  that  “no  person  may  be  molested 
in  his  person,  family,  home,  papers  or  possesiones  unles  by 
virtue  of  a special  written  mandate  issued  by  competent 
authority,  which  alone  shall  be  the  real  ground  and  motive 
for  legal  procedure.  No  order  for  arrest  or  detention  shall 
be  issued  unless  by  judicial  authority  ...”  Throughout  the 
whole  land  the  most  honorable  citizens  have  been  “molested 
in  their  persons,  families,  goods,  papers  and  possessions” 
without  any  judicial  order.  They  are  sent  to  prison  and  de- 
tained there  in  the  same  manner;  whenever  the  unfortu- 
nate victims  of  this  interpretation  of  the  Constitution,  ask 
for  or  demand  the  written  order  of  a judge  they  are  shown 
a pistol  as  the  only  writ  that  runs,  the  only  reason  and  the 
only  legitimate  (?)  order! 

Article  XIV  provides  that : “No  man  may  be  deprived 
of  life,  liberty,  or  property  . . . unless  through  judicial  pro- 
cess, before  tribunals  already  established.”  One  hundred  and 
forty-seven  priests,  seventy-six  boys  of  the  Mexican  Asso- 
ciation of  Catholic  Youth,  and  countless  others  have  been 
deprived  of  their  lives  without  other  legal  procedure  than  a 
mere  word  of  command : “Kill  them  at  once,”  from  the  foul 
lips  of  the  saloon-keeper  of  Sonora,  Calles.  Hundreds 
have  been  robbed  of  all  their  earthly  goods  in  the  same 
fashion,  many  imprisoned,  thousands  deported  to  the  dread- 
ed Islas  Marias,  and  scores  scourged  in  the  same  brutal 
fashion.  We  could  thus  go  on  for  innumerable  pages  be- 
fore exhausting  the  list  if  we  were  to  examine  one  by  one 
the  crimes  committed  by  Calles  against  the  Constitution  he 
wants  the  people  to  observe.  Law,  in  Calles’  mind  should 
be  obeyed  by  the  masses  who  are  mis-governed,  but  not  by 
the  authorities  who  govern ! 


38 


Consequently,  we  have  amply  proven  that  the  tyran- 
nical regime  under  which  Mexico  is  now  agonizing,  is  ille- 
gal, absolutely  illegal  in  its  origin,  its  methods  and  in  every 
one  of  its  daily  acts. 

REFINEMENT  OF  CRUELTY 
• 

Plutarco  Elias  Calles  is  no  ordinary  criminal ; with  him 
cruelty  has  become  a fine  art!  His  government  is  com- 
posed of  evil-doers,  as  if  he  had  scoured  the  jails  of  the 
country  to  make  a collection  of  the  greatest  thieves,  the 
most  seasoned  assassins,  the  most  audacious  highwaymen; 
he  has  welded  them  into  an  infernal  band  of  murderers. 
We  herewith  submit  to  the  world  some  of  his  chef  d’ouvres 
in  the  art  of  crime. 

At  the  head  of  his  band  is  Roberto  Cruz,  a man  of  un- 
believably ferocious  instincts;  this  man  was  given,  with  a 
gesture  of  humiliating  sarcasm,  the  title  of  “Inspector  Gen- 
eral of  Police,, ! All  those  priests  who  are  arrested  and  im- 
prisoned for  the  “high  crime  and  misdemeanor”  of  saying 
Mass,  such  politicians  who  are  to  be  chastised  for  having 
opposed  the  unchecked  vandalism  of  the  Government,  all 
those  noble  women  who  are  imprisoned  for  the  terrible  and 
dangerous  crime  of  being  good  Christians,  all  those  writ- 
ers, victimized  for  not  thinking  as  the  tyrant  thinks,  in  fine, 
all  those  citizens  on  whom  a suspicion  has  fallen  that  they 
are  out  of  sympathy  with  the  crew  of  scoundrels,  are  left 
to  the  “tender  mercies”  of  the  Inspector  General  of  Police. 

The  offices  of  the  Inspector  General  are  in  a manorial 
mansion,  formerly  the  home  of  a politician,  but  now  under 
the  control  of  Calles.  The  upper  floors  are  used  as  offices 
by  the  Police  Agents  and  serve  as  quarters  for  the  military 
guards  stationed  in  the  building.  The  cellar  has  been  con- 
verted into  a chain  of  prison  cells.  These  dungeons  are  nar- 
row, dark,  and  badly  ventilated.  A man  cannot  find  a 
comfortable  standing  room  there  and  the  humidity  makes  it 
intolerable  for  the  unfortunate  prisoners.  As  many  as  fif- 
teen persons  have  been  packed  at  once,  into  one  of  these 
cells,  and  forced  to  remain  in  most  uncomfortable  positions 
for  entire  weeks,  with  no  place  to  lie  down  to  rest,  and  per- 
meated with  the  foul  stench  emanating  from  the  toilets  to 
be  found  in  each  cell. 

Now,  a few  words  about  Mexican  Police  methods.  A 
short  time  ago  a youthful  member  of  the  Mexican  Catholic 
Young  Mens’  Association  was  arrested  and  accused  of  be- 
ing one  of  the  most  active  opponents  of  the  evil  regime  of 
Calles.  The  police  agents  conveyed  him  in  an  automobile 
along  the  Puebla  road  to  a deserted  spot,  where  they  made 
him  dismount ; there  each  police  officer — there  were  eight  of 


39 


them — drew  his  pistol  and  menaced  the  youth  with  death 
unless  he  betrayed  his  companions.  Failing  in  this,  they 
struck  him  several  blows  with  their  gun  butts ; others  twist- 
ed his  arms  until  he  fell,  fainting  to  the  ground ; they  then 
jumped  on  the  fallen  body  like  a group  of  wild  animals. 
One  officer  gripped  the  young  man’s  throat  making  a fierce 
effort  to  strangle  him,  while  the  rest  literally  showered 
blows  upon  the  defenceless  youth.  They  gave  him  the  op- 
tion of  betraying  his  friends  or  else  forfeiting  his  life.  As 
they  could  not  force  a statement  from  him  and  not  having 
instructions  to  kill  him,  they  placed  the  unfortunate  half- 
dead victim  in  the  automobile  and  threw  him  into  a cell  in 
the  Prefecture  of  Police.  In  his  sad  plight  he  was  surrep- 
titiously cared  for  by  a humane  gendarme:  he  survived 
ten  days,  being  given  a little  food,  despite  his  terrible  tor- 
ment and  the  filthy  condition  of  the  dungeon. 

We  are  in  possession  of  data  sufficient  to  provide  the 
reader  with  hundred  of  such  cases.  Let  the  reader  but  ap- 
peal to  any  decent  person  living  in  Mexico  or  approach 
trustworthy  exiles  in  U.  S.  A.  and  other  countries,  and  he 
will  realize  the  unimpeachable  truth  of  our  narrative.  Such 
a tale  of  horrors  may  strike  the  reader  as  impossible — but 
not  so  once  the  real  Calles  and  his  gang  are  known. 

There  are  other  methods  of  torture  far  worse  than  any 
so  far  described.  In  the  entourage  of  the  Inspector  Gen- 
eral is  a cold-blooded  criminal,  the  hangman  General  Palo- 
mera  Lopez.  This  man,  who  should  certainly  be  imprisoned 
for  life  on  his  long  criminal  record,  is  free  and  an  official 
scourge  to  decent  society.  A young  man  was  arrested  re- 
cently in  Colima,  accused  of  having  worked  against  the 
Calles’  governement,  and  brought  to  the  Capital.  The  ban- 
dit government  regarded  the  case  as  a serious  one  and  re- 
solved on  drastic  punishment  as  an  example  to  the  country. 
The  luckless  youth  was  handed  over  to  General  Palomera 
Lopez,  who  conducted  his  victim,  at  midnight,  into  the 
mountains  near  Contreras,  in  the  Federal  District.  The 
young  man  was  bound  hand  and  foot,  released — flight  be- 
ing out  of  the  question — and  riddled  with  bullets.  Three 
days  later  the  Italian  manager  of  a neighboring  ranch  dis- 
covered the  corpse  and  reported  the  incident  to  the  press 
with  abundant  details.  The  police  authorities  shrugged 
their  shoulders  in  silence ! This  young  man  was  a member 
of  one  of  the  finest  families  in  Colima.  Again  we  refrain 
from  further  narratives  of  this  type  as  we  aim  at  making 
the  terrible  story  as  brief  as  possible. 

We  cannot,  however,  refrain  from  giving  the  reader  a 
glimpse  at  a species  of  official  crime  of  a still  more  shock- 
ing nature.  A young  lady,  daughter  of  a distinguished 
metropolitan  family  was  commissioned  to  distribute  some 


leaflets  of  religious  propaganda : this  being  a terrible  crime 
in  the  eyes  of  the  government.  Arrested,  the  young  lady 
was  not  taken  to  a prison  cell  in  the  Inspector  General’s  of- 
fice but  to  a cage  in  the  offices  of  the  Mexican  Attorney 
General.  The  young  lady’s  relatives  sought  her  anxiously 
in  every  place,  and  at  length  her  father  discovered  her  in 
the  Attorney-General’s  office.  The  hapless  girl  threw  her- 
self into  her  father’s  arms;  bursting  into  a flood  of  tears, 
she  shrieked  in  anguish  her  sad  misfortune:  she  had  been 
violated.  The  poor  father,  in  shame  and  indignation,  re- 
monstrated with  Romeo  Ortega,  the  Attorney-General ; this 
brute  merely  grinned  his  satisfaction  and  said:  “I  have 
sworn  to  do  the  same  to  every  young  girl  whom  my  agents 
bring  to  me,  accused  of  being  Catholic.” 

It  will  suffice  to  say  that  in  the  City  of  Mexico  more 
than  two  hundred  women  of  distinguished  families  have 
passed  through  the  police  dungeons  of  President  Calles ; in 
Guadalajara  three  hundred  and  sixty  ladies  have  been  im- 
prisoned. In  Morelia  fifteen  have  suffered  a like  fate.  In 
the  course  of  the  campaign  waged  by  Calles  against  the 
Catholics  of  Jalisco  there  has  not  been  left  a single  home  in 
a single  village  free  from  this  class  of  official  infamy,  ins- 
tigated and  sustained  by  the  drunken  ex-schoolmaster  of 
Guaymas.  Yet,  need  we  remind  the  reader,  these  people 
merely  exercised  their  perfectly  lawful  right  of  defense. 

Fifteen  young  men  were  apprehended  in  different 
parts  of  the  Republic  and  reunited  in  the  dungeons  of  the 
Police  Inspector’s  office.  All  were  accused  of  not  being 
friendly  towards  the  bandit  regime  and  all  were  members 
of  the  first  families  of  Mexico.  The  authorities  resolved  on 
a terrible  chastisement.  They  were  incorporated  among  a 
group  of  the  vilest  criminals,  one  hundred  and  twenty  in 
number,  and  deported  to  the  Islas  Marias.  The  Marias  Is- 
lands are  a penal  colony,  situated  in  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and 
the  climate  there  is  notoriously  unhealthy. 

Arrived  at  the  Islands,  all  the  young  men — and  among 
them  was  a respectable  gentleman  seventy  years  old — were 
stripped  of  their  clothes  and  forced  to  put  on  a pair  of  short 
trousers.  Cruelly  lashed  by  vile  guards  they  were  forced  to 
work  for  sixteen  hours  daily;  their  labor  was  the  hardest 
and  most  humiliating  imaginable,  from  collecting  salt  on 
the  seashore  to  carrying  sacks  of  lime,  under  a burning 
sun,  enormous  distances.  We  have  had  the  great  privilege 
oi  becoming  acquainted  with  many  of  these  prisoners;  af- 
ter two  months  of  captivity  many  of  them  carried  on  their 
shoulders  the  terrible  wounds  caused  by  friction  from  the 
heavily-laden  coarse  sacks  they  were  forced  to  carry;  all 
of  them  bore  the  furrowed  marks  of  the  cruel  lash  freely 
given  by  their  despicable  guards. 


4/ 


In  this  matter  of  deportation  one  deed  looms  up  as  typ- 
ical of  the  vandal  felony  of  Calles.  The  relatives  of  the  old 
man  exhausted  every  means  to  prevent  his  deportation  to 
the  dread  Islands.  In  course  of  their  efforts  the  old  man  was 
told  that  if  a fine  of  two  thousand  dollars  were  paid  he 
would  be  set  at  liberty.  The  same  rapacious  trick  had  de- 
ceived others  in  a similar  plight;  the  family  was  led  to  be- 
lieve everything  would  be  well;  they  sold  everything  they 
possessed,  and  their  fortune  was  a small  one,  accumulated 
after  years  of  hard,  honest  toil.  The  sum  secured  was 
handed  over  and  the  promised  freedom  awaited.  Neverthe- 
less, Calles  and  Cruz  refused  to  free  the  aged  prisoner; 
they  sent  him  to  the  Islas  Marlas,  in  spite  of  his  advanced 
age,  and  then  held  the  money  which  had  been  handed  over 
to  them ! . . . 

We  have  already  referred  to  an  incident  which  occurred 
few  weeks  ago.  Some  hands  unknown  threw  a bomb  into 
the  coach  in  which  rode  General  Obregon.  The  authorities 
searched  for  the  authors  of  this  attack  and  the  police  agents 
had  no  difficulty  in  arresting  a man  Nahun  Ruiz.  In  order 
to  compel  him  to  reveal  the  names  of  his  associates  the  po- 
lice gouged  out  his  eyes  and  tortured  him  to  the  verge  of 
death ; they  then  brought  before  him — now  blind — a police 
officer  whom  they  alleged  was  the  victim's  brother.  The 
dying  man  made  a statement  and  entrusted  a dying  mes- 
sage to  his  supposed  brother.  In  this  way  the  Calles'  po- 
lice secured  other  addresses  and  were  able  to  arrest  Father 
Miguel  Agustin  Pro,  S.  !l.,  his  brother  Humbert  and  the 
Engineer  Luis  Segura ; these  innocent  men  were  murdered 
barbarously,  without  any  trial,  without  the  slightest  inves- 
tigation, solely  to  demonstrate  the  fury  of  Calles  against 
those  he  supposed  the  authors  of  the  attempt  to  kill  his  pol- 
itical godfather,  Obregon  . . . 

In  no  country  in  the  world  can  a parallel  be  found  for 
Mexico  wherein,  in  this  twentieth  century,  criminals  and 
evil-doers  are  governing  the  nation.  Society,  for  whose 
service  a police  force  exists  and  for  whom  all  authority  is 
created,  far  from  finding  protection  in  their  police  force 
and  a guarantee  of  security  in  their  government  authorities 
encounter  instead  a perfectly  organized  band  of  jail  birds 
who  rob,  murder,  imprison,  trample  upon,  outrage  and  ter- 
rorize the  citizens  with  an  impunity  which  should  bring  a 
hot  blush  of  shame*  to  the  face  of  every  decent  person  on  the 
American  continent. 

CRIMINAL  SUPPORT 

Since  we  have  said  that  Calles  was  never  elected  Pres- 
ident of  Mexico,  but  seized  the  Government  by  force  of 
arms  and  continues  to  govern  against  the  unanimous  will 


of  the  people,  our  readers  may  well  ask  in  surprise : “What 
force  keeps  such  a gang  of  bandits  in  power?”  We  will 
very  briefly  answer  this  important  and  very  obvious  ques- 
tion. The  following  are  the  chief  sources  of  support  and 
maintenance  for  the  Calles'  Government. 

1.  The  very  powerful  aid  of  the  United  States’  Gov- 
ernment. 

2.  The  Revolutionary  Army. 

3.  The  Mexican  Federation  of  Labor. 

4.  The  Agrarians. 

We  have  purposely  placed  at  the  head  of  the  list  the 
assistance  given  these  evil-doers  by  the  White  House  at 
Washington  because  it  is  the  most  potent  of  all  the  forces 
which  sustain  in  unfortunate  Mexico  the  Empire  of  crim- 
inal government.  We  are  absolutely  certain  that  the  very 
moment  the  Government  at  Washington  withdraws  iti 
friendship  and  leaves  the  Mexican  people  free  to  defend 
themselves  against  the  oppression  of  Calles,  he  will  not 
remain  in  power  one  month  longer. 

Now  we  have  reason  to  fear  that  this  statement  may 
give  offense  in  certain  quarters  and  arouse  a passionate 
denial  and  as  we  have  powerful  motives  for  respecting  the 
American  people  and  treating  them  with  every  considera- 
tion, we  lay  down  our  pen  and  allow  an  upright  American 
citizen,  Theodore  Roosevelt,  to  give  his  eloquent  explana- 
tion of  the  triumph  of  the  revolutionary  band  and  he  will 
tell  you  how  the  country  was  brought  under  the  unchecked 
oppression  of  an  oligarchy.  Theodore  Roosevelt  wrote  in 
the  New  York  Times  of  December  6th  1914: 

“The  act  of  permitting  the  passage  of  arms  across  the 
frontier,  on  the  part  of  Wilson,  meant  that  he  not  only  ac- 
tively helped  the  insurrection,  but  without  any  doubt  pro- 
vided the  means  of  achieving  success,  in  so  far  as  he  actively 
prevented  Huerta  from  organizing  an  effective  resistance. 
The  defenders  of  Wilson  allege  that  he  could  not  have  pre- 
vented the  passage  of  arms  across  the  frontier.  Our  reply 
to  that  is:  Wilson  did,  at  times,  prevent  such  gun-running. 
He  thus  proved  that  he  was  actively  interested  in  arming 
the  revolutionaries,  and  when  he  so  desired  he  gave  per- 
mission, when  he  wished  otherwise,  he  refused  it;  he  was 
therefore  absolutely  responsible  for  this.” 

“The  United  States  would  not  have  had  the  least  re- 
sponsibility for  what  has  been  done  to  the  Church,  if  the 
faction  which  committed  these  outrages  had  not  been  en- 
abled to  triumph  by  the  United  States.  But  since  the  United 
States  took  part  in  a civil  war  in  Mexico,  in  the  manner  in 
which  Wilson  and  Bryan  obliged  our  government  to  take 
part,  this  country,  through  this  act  alone,  is  responsible 
for  the  horrible  injustices,  the  terrible  outrages . committed 


±3 


by  the  victorious  revolutionaries  against  hundreds  of  be- 
lievers of  both  sexes. 

“Not  long  ago,  President  Wilson,  in  a speech  delivered 
at  Swarthmore,  Penn.,  declared  that  ‘in  no  part  of  this  con- 
tinent can  any  government  survive  that  is  stained  with 
blood/  and  in  Mobile  he  said : ‘We  shall  never  forgive  ini- 
quity solely  because  it  may  be  more  convenient  for  us  to 
do  so/ 

“At  the  very  moment  he  was  pronouncing  these  high 
sounding  phrases,  the  leaders  of  the  faction  which  he  ac- 
tively aided,  were  shooting  down  hundreds  in  cold  blood; 
they  were  torturing  men  supposed  to  be  wealthy ; they  were 
casting  forth  from  their  homes  hundreds  of  peaceful  fam- 
ilies : they  were  sacking  the  churches  and  maltreating  priests 
and  religious  in  the  most  infamous  manner,  from  assassi- 
nation to  mutilation  and  outrage. 

“In  other  words,  at  the  very  time  the  President  assured 
us  ‘that  in  no  part  of  this  hemisphere  can  any  government 
endure  if  it  be  stained  with  blood’  he  was  helping  to  put 
in  power  a government  that  was  not  only  stained  with  blood 
but  was  stained  with  stains  worse  than  those  of  blood.  At 
the  very  time  he  announced  that  ‘he  would  not  continue  re- 
lations with  iniquity  even  if  it  were  more  convenient  to  do 
so/  he  not  only  consorted  with  iniquity  but  openly  supported 
it  and  vut  in  vower  men  whose  actions  were  those  of  fero- 
cious barbarians.” 

We  believe  no  evidence  could  be  more  impartial  and 
more  honorable. 

Now  what  Wilson  did  with  Carranza,  Harding  repeat- 
ed with  Obregon  and  Mr.  Coolidge  with  Calles,  for  we  must 
advert  to  the  fact  that  although  these  three  personalities 
mav  appear  different  at  first  sight — Carranza,  Obregon 
and  Calles — they  all  have  been  revolutionarv  leaders  and 
have  been  imposed  on  the  people  by  the  system  which  Mr. 
Roosevelt  so  fitly  described. 

When  Obregon  was  seen  to  be  menaced  bv  the  De  la 
Huerta  movement  it  was  the  United  States’  Government 
that  supplied  him  with  abundant  materials  of  war  to  sus- 
tain himself.  All  the  attempts  which  have  been  made  to 
demolish  the  regime  of  criminals,  have  been  severely  sup- 
pressed bv  the  American  Government  over  which  Mr.  Cool- 
idge presides.  For  proof  of  this  we  have  the  fact  that  Gen- 
eral Enriciue  Estrada  was  imprisoned  for  attempting  to 
cross  the  frontier,  by  the  American  authorities,  and  only  a 
short  time  ago  Mr.  Gandara  was  sentenced,  in  Tucson,  to 
two  years  in  the  penitentiary  for  having  sent  arms  to  the 
enemips  oi  Calles.  As  if  all  this  were  not  enough,  precisely 
when  the  Mexican  nation  is  shuddering  with  horror  at  the 
massacre  of  priests  and  politicians  and  young  men  ordered 
by  Calles  in  these  last  months,  Mr.  Morrow  arrives  in  Mex- 


ico  as  Ambassador  from  the  White  House  and  a few  days 
later  goes  on  a trip  with  the  bandit  through  the  Republic, 
in  close  friendship,  as  if  he  wished  to  declare  to  the  world : 
“The  United  States  maintains  in  power  the  murderers  of 
the  unfortunate  people  of  Mexico.” 

Sad  irony,  surely!  Mexico,  victim  of  the  most  savage 
crew  one  can  imagine,  the  work  of  the  government  of  the 
great  nation  which  leads  the  procession  in  the  civilized 
world!  Mexico,  bereft  of  liberty  of  conscience,  without 
freedom  to  think,  without  civil  liberty,  without  the  liberty 
of  the  press,  without  freedom  of  speech,  without  religious 
freedom,  without  liberty  to  educate;  all  because  of  the  as- 
sistance given  to  the  criminal  who  govern  her  by  a nation 
which  is  a beacon  light  of  the  highest  democracy  and  a 
splendid  ome  for  all  legitimate  human  liberties ! 

II.  Another  support  of  this  savage  despotism  is  “the 
army.”  Permit  us  to  say  a word  about  this.  The  “army” 
which  keeps  Calles  in  power  is  not  what  people  understand 
by  a real  army.  Men  of  the  worst  antecedents  fill  the  army, 
the  majority  of  them  with  accounts  to  be  settled  in  a court 
of  justice.  In  organizing  his  revolutionary  forces,  Carran- 
za recruited  all  the  bandits  in  the  country,  he  took  all  the 
criminals  out  of  jails,  and  collected  the  most  notorious  evil- 
doers to  incorporate  this  mess  into  what,  up  to  the  present 
moment,  is  called  the  Mexican  “army”!  The  leaders  are 
not  men  of  any  class  of  military  training,  but  bandits  who 
achieved  notoriety,  of  the  calibre  of  Pancho  Villa ; men  who 
won  their  spurs  in  the  revolution  for  conspicuous  ferocity 
and  cruelty. 

Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  present  Minister  of  War, 
“General  of  Division”  Joaquin  Amaro,  is  a man  who,  al- 
ready a Cabinet  Minister  began  to  read  and  write ; less  than 
three  years  ago  this  person  traversed  the  State  of  Michoa- 
can  at  the  head  of  a band  engaged  in  wrecking  trains  and 
robbing  ranches ! To  this  day  he  bears  the  mark  of  an  ear- 
ring in  his  right  ear:  he  bore  this  gem  as  a symbol  of  his 
profession  of  banditry,  and  although  he  has  thrown  away 
the  badge,  he  is  still  a bandit.  It  is  easy  to  imagine  what 
kind  the  subalterns  are. 

These  gallows’  birds  have  enriched  themselves  while 
in  power:  and  instead  of  expiating  their  crimes  in  prison, 
enjoy  the  highest  honors  and  privileges.  They  have  a spec- 
ial interest  in  sustaining  the  actual  regime  of  tyranny,  and 
theirs  is  a war  machine  ever  ready  for  fight.  Nevertheless, 
this  unclean  mess  of  criminals  would  put  up  a poor  show 
of  resistance  against  the  decent  people  of  Mexico,  if  only 
the  latter  were  in  a position  to  free  themselves. 

III.  A third  force  which  gives  unconditional  support 
to  Calles  is  the  “Mexican  District  Federation  of  Labor,” 
known  generaly  as  the  CROM  from  its  initials  (Confedera- 


cion  Regional  Obrera  Mexicana) . Government  agents  have 
been  appointed  to  organize  communist  syndicates  whose 
real  objective  is  to  be  at  the  service  of  the  government.  Very 
difficut  is  it  to  avoid  enrollment  in  this  class  of  syndicalism, 
because  refusal  to  join  means  that  the  poor  worker  is  thrown 
forcibly  out  of  employment  with  no  hope  of  securing  work 
elsewhere;  consequently,  the  unfortunate  workers  are  face 
to  face  with  this  grim  alternative:  “Join  the  CROM  or 
starve  to  death.” 

The  CROM  is  at  the  unconditional  service  of  the  gov- 
ernment. Every  time  the  government  wants  to  stage  a pop- 
ular parade  it  has  recourse  to  the  CROM  to  put  on  a “show”. 
The  crowds  march  through  the  street,  cheering  the  gov- 
ernment, for  if  they  do  not  cheer  they  are  expelled  from  the 
syndicate  and  once  expelled  from  the  union  they  find  them- 
selves out  of  employment.  The  American  Federation  of  La- 
bor has  maintained  a close  friendship  with  this  society  for 
Soviet  propaganda,  whose  leaders  propagate  in  Mexico  Rus- 
sian Soviet  ideas,  albeit  they  take  good  care  to  hide  this. 
Doubtless  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  is  quite  ig- 
norant of  the  fact  that  it  is  allied  with  a group  hostile  to 
itself. 

IV.  The  last  supporting  agency  of  Mexican  tyranny- 
is  Agrarianism.  It  is  very  necessary  to  remark  that  the 
rural  inhabitants  of  Mexico  are  very  poor  and  very  igno- 
rant. Calles  and  Obregon  have  learned  how  to  avail  them- 
selves of  this  poverty  and  of  this  ignorance  as  a source  of 
support.  We  will  see  in  what  manner. 

In  keeping  with  its  Soviet  tendencies,  and  in  the  same 
manner  in  which  the  oil  men  were  deprived  of  their  rights, 
the  vast  majority  of  the  landed  proprietors  in  Mexico  were 
robbed  of  their  holdings,  which  properties  were  subdivided 
among  the  laborers.  Naturally  the  ignorant  peasants  do  not 
know  what  to  do  with  their  unexpected  proprietorship,  and 
not  a few  failed  to  feel  elated  on  receipt  of  a gift  of  this 
nature,  because  no  matter  how  ill-instructed  they  might 
be  they  still  had  strong  conscientious  objections  to  accept- 
ing a gift  which  had  been  robbed  by  the  giver  from  the  law- 
ful owners. 

Not  all  the  peasants  received  equal  treatment  in  the 
appropriation  of  the  lands.  Only  those  who  pertained  to 
the  agrarian  organization  were  considered : in  other  words, 
the  government  party.  These  poor  natives  are  in  far  worse 
plight  even  than  the  industrial  workers.  Not  only  are  they 
made  to  march  in  the  parades  staged  to  set  off  the  triumphs 
of  the  government,  but  at  any  moment  they  may  have  a rifle 
thrust  into  their  hands  and  ordered  off  to  fight  without 
knowing  for  what  or  for  whom ! 

So  that  we  may  thoroughly  understand  the  system  of 
deceit  which  characterizes  the  conduct  of  Calles  and  Obre- 


U6 


gon,  we  wish  to  present  this  peculiar  incident.  Not  long 
ago  Obregon  arrived  in  Mexico  City  from  his  vast  ranch  in 
Sonora — this  vast  acreage,  of  course,  was  not  divided  among 
the  peasants! — and  his  partners  in  crime  determined  on 
staging  for  him  a tumultuous  reception,  so  that  everybody 
might  believe  that  Obregon  is  the  popular  candidate  for  the 
coming  electoral  masquerade.  Calles  put  sufficient  trains 
at  the  disposal  of  the  Obregonists  so  as  to  bring  to  the  Cap- 
ital thousands  of  peasants.  This  “stunt”  was  vile  and  at 
the  same  time  sad ; the  writer  of  these  lines  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  speaking  with  these  poor  peasants,  who,  on  b&ng 
asked  what  was  the  purpose  of  the  demonstration,  said: 
“They  told  us  the  Archbishop  was  going  to  arrive ! . . ” 

The  Archbishop  certainly  did  not  arrive,  because  sev- 
eral weeks  before  he  had  been  expelled  from  the  country 
by  Calles  and  his  counsellor  and  director  Obregon  . . . 

These  are  the  four  great  supports  of  the  criminal  re- 
gime which  exists  in  Mexico. 

TO  SAVE  MEXICO 

What  the  martyrized  people  need,  to  throw  off  the  yoke 
of  banditry  become  government,  is  that  both  the  people  and 
the  government  of  the  United  States,  for  elementary  rea- 
sons of  humanity,  have  compassion  on  her  miseries. 

What  the  decent  people  of  Mexico  ask  is,  neither  direct 
nor  indirect  intervention  on  the  part  of  the  United  States, 
as  to  desire  such  intervention  would  be  unpatriotic,  but 
simply  that  America  leave  Mexico  free  to  save  the  nation 
from  the  talons  of  these  criminals. 

Since  the  bandit  government  of  Calles  exists  and  is 
sustained  by  the  help  which  he  has  received  from  the  White 
House,  all  that  the  Mexican  people  ask  of  the  United  States 
is  simply  the  justice  of  neutrality,  so  that  they  may  be  able 
to  defend  themselves. 

The  Mexican  people  believe  themselves  capable,  and 
they  are,  of  ending  the  Calles’  tyranny  and  making  of  their 
fatherland  a country  peaceful,  industrious  and  progressive. 
They  do  not  plan  to  install  a sectary  regime  but  a natural, 
representative  government,  which  shall  guarantee  the  safe- 
ty of  property  and  legitimate  liberties,  open  the  doors,  step 
by  step  to  capital,  for  the  benefit  of  the  workers  and  the 
development  of  the  national  resources;  in  fine,  only  thus- 
wise  can  Mexico  take  her  place  in  the  concourse  of  civilized 
people  through  the  bond  of  a loyal  and  honorable  interna- 
tional friendship. 

But  the  Mexican  people  can  never,  absolutely,  attain 
to  this  legitimate  destiny  if,  instead  of  dealing  with  a band 
of  criminals  such  as  the  Calles  and  Obregon  clique,  she  finds 


herself  confronted  by  the  powerful  aid  which  these  men  are 
receiving  from  the  American  Government.  Consequently, 
we  believe  it  necessary  to  bring  home  to  the  minds  of  Amer- 
ican officials,  Congress,  Senators  and  Representatives,  of 
all  politicians  and  of  all  citizens  among  this  great  American 
people,  without  distinction  of  political  or  religious  creeds, 
the  conviction  that  a stop  must  be  put  to  this  Empire  of 
crime,  if  not  for  justice’s  sake  at  least  in  the  interests  of 
humanity. 

You  who  have  children  whom  you  educate  according  to 
your  tastes,  imagine  the  agony  of  good  parents  in  Mexico 
denied  the  liberty  to  educate  their  children  unless  exactly  as 
Calles  commands ! 

You,  who  profess  a religious  creed,  whatever  it  may  be, 
and  worship  in  your  temples  a Supreme  Being,  imagine  how 
you  would  suffer  were  all  your  churches  to  be  closed,  many 
of  them  converted  into  barracks,  impiously  wrecked,  your 
images  profaned  and  your  altars  desecrated ! 

You,  American  citizens,  who  have  attained  to  such  a 
height  on  the  path  of  progress  through  your  respect  for  the 
belief  of  others,  and  who  have  achieved  lasting  peace  and  a 
flourishing  culture,  try  to  realize  what  your  reaction  would 
be  if  your  priests  were  exiled  from  their  fatherland,  as  if 
they  were  criminals,  the  bishops  expelled,  and  one  hundred 
forty-seven  other  priests  riddled  with  bullets,  in  revolting 
cruelty. 

You  who  have  families,  young  boys  and  girls  in  whom 
you  have  placed  your  dearest  hopes,  as  you  look  on  them 
with  pride,  and  recognize  in  them  your  own  felicity,  look, 
please,  if  not  for  a motive  of  love  at  least  for  humanitarian 
reasons,  upon  these  hundreds  of  Mexican  parents  and  fam- 
ilies from  whose  homes  the  black  beast,  Calles,  whom  you 
support,  has  snatched  thousands  of  our  youth;  they  too, 
were  the  hope,  the  joy,  the  centre  of  the  sweetest  loves  and 
now  they  are  torn  to  pieces  for  the  sole  crime  of  being  Chris- 
tians. 

We  appeal  to  you  who  are  the  proud  parents  of  young 
daughters,  full  of  enchantment  and  beauty,  to  understand,  if 
you  can,  the  shame  and  the  ignominy  of  many  Mexican  fam- 
ilies where  young  daughters  have  been  devoured  by  the  bes- 
tiality of  Calles  and  have  been  outraged  in  abominable  dun- 
geons as  a chastisement  for  their  religious  beliefs. 

You  American  ladies  and  gentlemen  who  belong  to 
clubs,  societies  and  organizations  of  various  kinds  try  to 
estimate  what  annoyance  and  irritation  you  would  endure 
were  you  to  be  suddenly  expelled  from  these  societies,  to 
witness  their  wholesale  suppression,  the  leaders  imprisoned, 
all  because  .a  tyrant  chose  to  think  that  he  had  the  right  to 
deprive  them  of  their  liberties. 


U8 


You  who  select  to  run  your  government  men  reputed  to 
be  honorable  and  versed  in  the  science  of  Government,  who 
give  you  laws  conformable  to  your  will  and  your  special 
needs;  you  who  have  a Constitution  that  you  venerate  as 
the  synthesis  of  the  national  soul,  consider  if  it  be  just  that 
the  Mexican  people  should  live  under  the  tyranny  of  a band 
01  robbers  who  hold  them  down  by  brute  force,  who  enforce 
arbitrary  laws  contrary  to  their  will,  who  suffer  great  dVils 
for  refusing  to  respect  an  abominable  Constitution  begotten 
by  a group  of  malefactors  who  styled  themselves  a “con- 
stituent assembly,”  now  find  themselves  innocent  victims  of 
a bloody  persecution. 

And  you,  who  have  no  children  and  have  never  tasted 
the  sweetness  of  a home  nor  have  ever  worried  about  laws, 
if  such  as  you  should  read  these  lines,  remember  that  you 
have,  at  least,  the  right  to  live  and  walk  the  streets  without 
terror  or  the  fear  of  assault;  you  admire  how  the  plants 
are  allowed  to  grow  and  the  meanest  birds  are  allowed  to 
live ; look  you  and  see  if  there  is  reason  and  justice  for  main- 
taining a population  of  fifteen  millions  under  such  dire  ser- 
vitude, under  such  awful  torment  that  denies  the  right  to 
live:  in  Mexico  it  is  impossible  to  move  without  danger  of 
being  declared  an  enemy  of  the  oppressors,  or  of  seeing 
hundreds  of  human  beings,  one’s  brothers,  assassinated 
with  horrible  prodigality. 

Why  do  you  Americans  cause  in  our  homes  sorrows  and 
disgrace  that  you  would  not  suffer  in  your  own?  Why  in- 
jure your  equals,  who  have  never  done  you  an  evil? 

Ah!  Please  do  not  think  you  have  done  your  duty  by 
us  if  you  merely  sympathize  with  us.  See  to  it  that  justice 
is  done  to  Mexico.  Who  causes  damage  is  bound  to  re- 
pair the  injury. 

Mexico  asks  for  no  assistance.  What  Mexico  asks  of 
the  United  States  is  that  for  humanitarian  reasons  she  be 
not  hindered  from  defending  herself ; she  asks  to  be  allowed 
by  removal  of  the  embargo  on  export  of  arms,  to  defend  her 
home  threatened  or  invaded  by  bandits;  let  there  be  noth- 
ing done  to  prevent  her  proving  to  the  world  that  the  Mex- 
ican people  know  how  to  be  free,  peaceful  and  respectable. 

You  who  are  charged  with  the  task  of  American  gov- 
ernment, members  of  Congress,  all  you  citizens  of  North 
America  add  to  your  past  triumphs  and  your  ancient  glories 
one  more  glory,  one  more  triumph : put  an  end  to  the  dolor- 
ous agony  of  the  oldest  nation  on  the  American  Continent. 


